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"    Photo: Dan McMahon   Yara Flinn is trying to scale the walls. This isn&amp;#039;t a metaphor\u2014the Nomia designer is not bored, or trapped\u2014but, rather, her Paris showroom is an old hot air balloon factory, and tiny ladders and staircases teeter up to the ceiling, which is made of glass domes and rickety beams. Climbing all the way up to them would be both exciting and dangerous\u2014but then again, so is starting your own fashion line, which Flinn did in 2009, when she was just 27. Eventually, the New York native decided not to risk the ascent, albeit only because she wanted to be on time for her ELLE.com interview! ELLE: Your mom is here in Paris with you. Do you always travel together?   Yara Flinn: No, but actually my family lived in Paris when I was seven. My mom works in business development for Port Authority at the New York airport, and they did some sort of exchange program, so she was working at Charles De Gaulle. ELLE: Does that mean you get to skip airport security lines? YF: It&amp;#039;s actually the opposite! You don&amp;#039;t get free airplane tickets, you can&amp;#039;t cut the line, and you can&amp;#039;t do anything because you&amp;#039;re part of a public entity. So don&amp;#039;t fly with me, because if you want to bring an extra bottle of Evian on the plane or something, I can&amp;#039;t help you. ELLE: Nomia used to be really hard to find, but now it&amp;#039;s at La Gar\u00E7onne and The Webster and Five Story\u2014all really cool, popular boutiques. Why do you think you&amp;#039;re blowing up right now? YF: It&amp;#039;s because I grew up a little bit\u2014I&amp;#039;m 30 now\u2014and I learned to be myself in my designs. People in the industry would say, &amp;quot;You know, Yara, you&amp;#039;re from New York City, your own style is great, but I don&amp;#039;t see you in your own collections!&amp;quot; And I realized, I should be making clothes for women like me. ELLE: What were you doing before? YF: I was making really concept-based collections. I thought I had to be inspired by some abstract idea, some architect or historical period or something. When I realized it was more about the girl who buys these clothes and her lifestyle, and less about these &amp;quot;ideas&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;concepts&amp;quot; I was trying to change every season. That&amp;#039;s when the line really came together for me. ELLE: What&amp;#039;s the key to understanding your collection this season? YF: It&amp;#039;s mixing sporty elements with evening wear, and making it easy for people to put it all together. One of my favorite things is this brocade varsity jacket, because it&amp;#039;s a very feminine fabric but with a very slouchy fit. And you can pair it with the matching dress. I like the balance of the oversize jacket with the mini dress. I want to make it easy for people to play with that balance and proportion. It looks cool and easy, and it actually is cool and easy! ELLE: Why are there mermaids sewn all over your tops this season? YF: Nomia is the name of a Greek mermaid, and Yara\u2014my name\u2014is a Brazilian mermaid. So we have a little connection there. And that particular mermaid embroidered on my Fall 2013 pieces is a mermaid from the Metropolitan Museum of Art&amp;#039;s collection. That&amp;#039;s my favorite museum. ELLE: Do you play The Little Mermaid soundtrack in your studio? YF: You know, Ariel is not exactly my kind of mermaid. Mine are tougher. For me, a mermaid means you can be really strong and really alluring at the same time. I think my clothes are both.  Photo: Dan McMahon  Photo: Dan McMahon Read the latest breaking fashion news. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a22815/yara-flinn-nomia-interview/>