Today is a great day. I have an interview with a very talented cosplayer that I think you will all enjoy. She comes to us from Austria and goes by the name Gekroent. I am sure you have heard of her before, and I am sure we will all be seeing more of her talents in the near future.
1. Who are you and where are you from?
I go by the pseudonym „Gekroent“, but my friends call me Lavi(na) and I am from the tiny country of austria.
2. How did you discover cosplay?
I always loved dressing up and used to wear a Link outfit on a local medieval fair but I never knew that this was “cosplay”. I discovered it when I was looking for magazines with articles about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in it. I picked up a magazine about Japanese lifestyle with a huge article about a German convention and it instantly caught my attention. I wanted to make such breathtaking costumes too and “be” my favorite character for at least one day!
3. You have so many great cosplays, but I have to say my favorite right now Aela the Huntress. How did that idea surface?
Well I was playing Skyrim, met her and she was instantly my favorite female character. Just kick ass and not whiny. But first I was way too unsure to even think about cosplaying such a revealing armor. Though my friends encouraged me and I finally did it. :)
4. How long have you been cosplaying?
The early starts were in about 2006/7 but I put more effort into it and started doing it in a more “serious“ way since about 2010.
5. What genres do you cosplay?
I have cosplayed already from games, comics, manga and movies but I think my favorite genre is the video game one. I also enjoy designing outfits myself and wearing medieval inspired ones on Medieval festivals.
6. What is your favorite way to show off a new cosplay?
Hitting conventions! It’s just the best to hang out with friends there and see how people react to your costume. Nothing is more encouraging than people asking you to take your photo or asking you about the way you made it. But sadly we don’t have many conventions here. And most of them are mostly for anime/manga, so I just arrange shoots from time to time and take photos to put them online afterwards.
7. Do you do other modeling besides cosplay?
Yes I did quite a few model-jobs now. It helps gaining confidence and it’s just fun. But due to private life and my job I don’t have so much time for this anymore.
8. What are your plans for the future?
I want to get better with making armor and sewing. My seams usually are a mess, haha. And I want to help others with their beginnings as good as I can and encourage them to try more difficult cosplays too. Right now I am preparing Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea), Serana (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and Lady Loki (MARVEL Comicverse). Also I would love to improve my drawing skills and finally be able to get my own comic project moving.
9. Where can my readers see more examples of your work?
I am on FB (www.facebook.com/gekroentART), devART (www.gekroent.deviantart.com) and tumblr (www.gekroent.tumblr.com) (next to other, small pages). Most of my stuff can be found on my FB page though.. cosplay, progress, artworks, random photos, rants while gaming, etc. ^^
10. If you had to pick one cosplay, which one are you the most proud of?
Clearly Aela! It combined so many new things for me. I never made much armor or had to sew that much leather. It was a challenge. I never thought that I’d even make the gem stones myself tbh! So I learned so much just with making it that I am just proud that I did it.
