Kuro Neko – Marsha’s Second Life Interviews

Give a warm welcome to Iris Seale, designer at Punch Drunk…

Kuro Neko: Firstly, tell me how you felt when you were approached for an interview.
Iris Seale: I felt amazingly flattered.
Kuro Neko:Tell me how Punch Drunk was born.
Iris: Well, I heard about Second Life in a ‘cyberarts’ class at school. I’m a Theatrical Costume Design major, so I thought maybe it would be a cool way to reproduce some of my designs in 3D before I built them. I made lots of friends after I joined and they all asked me where I got my ‘outfits’ from. Eventually I started designing things just for SL and decided to open Punch Drunk.
Kuro Neko: May I ask, why did you name your store Punch Drunk? Is it because you want people to be stupefied by your designs?
Iris: Heh, stupifying people with my designs has never really occured to me I knew what I wanted the feel of the store to be: something girly but tough, fun, and bright. Punch Drunk was the first name to occur to me and I thought it fit all my criteria.
Kuro Neko: How would you class your clothing?
Iris: Definately girly! But like I said before, tough girly. I love bright colors and fun shapes. So..I guess I’ll have to go with bright and girly.
Kuro Neko: How many stores do you currently have around Second Life?
Iris: As of right now, I have my first and main store in Mischief Cove, a store in Fashion Mode on the Docks, a store in Cross Roads, and another in MO island. That’s a lot of stores!
Kuro Neko: Who are your favourite designers in Second Life?
Iris: There are WAY too many to name. I love funky, handdrawn clothing so I tend to frequent those stores a lot.
Kuro Neko: Do you consider Second Life to be a form of income or just a bit of fun?
Iris: Just for fun. While I’d love to someday say that my hobby is my job, I’m not crossing my fingers for it right now.
Kuro Neko: How often do you play Slingo, and how often are you lucky?
Iris: I play slingo far too much I usually play with some friends at another friend’s ‘park’, but you can find me at Parrothead sometimes. My sweet landlord, Claude Kirshner, just put a slingo solo freeplay machine in my loft, so I’m loving that. In group slingo, I think I’ve won maybe a total of five or six times. I’m not very lucky!
Kuro Neko: Do you feel you have found your true calling in Second Life, or do you think the future holds more for Iris Seale?
Iris: I definitely think I’ve found what I want to do in Second Life. I can’t imagine anything more fun than making up clothes.
Kuro Neko: Do you receive a lot of customer feedback?
Iris: Not nearly as much as I’d like, actually. If I’m in my store with customers, most of the time they’re really quiet. I don’t know, maybe I make them nervous by poking around.
Kuro Neko: What is the single most strangest thing that has happened to you in Second Life?
Iris: Well, i had a few interesting stalkers, but i think the strangest thing is people liking the clothes i put out I’m always afraid that people won’t like my style. It’s my style, though, so it’s not like I can do anything else.

Yes! We are wearing the same dress! And yes! That is Sydney Opera House!