IT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES – FASHION DESIGN FOR THE NEW WORLD
(A letter by the BIG SEE FASHION DESIGN AWARDS 2018 team of curators)
East European fashion design is daring, expressive, poetic, brutal, exotic and sincere.
It has been created based on passion, blood, revolution and a chronic lack of everything beautiful, and as such it is used to creating things almost from scratch and with a strong desire to go beyond the average, inexpensive products of fast fashion.
Perhaps this is why stars such as Lady Gaga, Björk, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, Dita Von Teese and many others, who are famous for their authentic and eccentric stage images, have their clothes created by designers whose DNA is so incorrigibly South-East European.
The South-East European design pool has become a new source of incredible creativity for the biggest West-European fashion houses. Unfortunately, most young designers only represent »new blood« for the powerful design names. Only few of these young designers can survive by creating under their own name and retaining their own creative freedom.
And those designers who have become successful are well aware of the importance of one thing: it is no longer enough to create beautiful clothes. It is the right fashion contents and concepts that are becoming more and more important. Fast fashion is no longer able to follow the newly emerging fashion trends of slow fashion, sustainable fashion, gender free fashion, ethical fashion, cruelty free fashion, bio-mimetic fashion and many others. Additionally, traditional old techniques are being revived and new, innovative technologies and materials are being created and used.
The future lies in brilliantly elaborated forms with content, the future lies in ethics, sustainability and sincere fashion that takes into account the people and animals of our planet. The future is in clothes that last years and years and that represent a unique piece of art. Fashion design is less and less about the changing fashion trends. What is becoming more and more important is one’s personal style and expressing one’s own views of the world through clothes.
As curators we found tremendous enjoyment in selecting the most outstanding fashion creations. Our work was difficult only because there are really so many highly-talented fashion designers in the South-East European region.
The best BIG SEE FASHION DESIGN AWARDS 2018 for individual categories and countries have already been selected. However, by 16 October 2018 the international jury will have selected three more winners (BIG SEE FASHION DESIGN AWARDS 2018 WINNERS), the best among the best from the entire South-East European region, from 18 countries.
Check out the project: Marko Potkozarac Feher / MARKO FEHER
Check out the project: Admir Batlak
Check out the project: Emina Hodžić Adilović, Nermina Hodžić / Kaftan Studio
Check out the project: Ema Koja Savahl / Ema Savahl Designs
Check out the project: Irina Furtuna, Valentina Furtuna / RAMURI
Check out the project: Andra Clitan / MA RA MI
Check out the project: Iulia Ghenea & Emilia Tudoran / IE Chlothing
Check out the project: Lana Dumitru & Vlad Tenu / FORAEVA by Lana Dumitru & Vlad Tenu
Check out the project: Michalis Stylianoudes
Check out the project: Tryfonas Modestou
Check out the project: Dragan Hristov / Ludus
Check out the project: Evgenija Zafirovska
Check out the project: Boris Čalić
Check out the project: Mirjana Šarac
Check out the project: Marta Miljanić
Check out the project: Dora Abodi / Studio ABODI
Check out the project: Je Suis Belle / Dalma Dévényi and Tibor Kiss
Check out the project: Lilla Cséfalvay
Check out the project: Boryana Petrova
Check out the project: Antoniya Yordanova and Kristina Butchvarova / KNAPP
Check out the project: Blerina Kllokoqi Rugova / BKR
Check out the project: Yllka Brada
Check out the project: Jakub Polanka / JAKUBPOLANKA
Check out the project: Jiri Kalfar / JIRI KALFAR
Check out the project: Monika Drápalová
Check out the project: Athenas and Anastasios Tranoulis / ATHENA BY TRANOULIS
Check out the project: Loreta Gudelj (clothes), Mihaela Markovic (knitted bags), Priyanka Desai (jewellery), Naša Posla (shoes) / Arte Studio
Check out the project: Mario Vijačkić
Check out the project: Nives Bošnjak
Check out the project: Flora Miranda
Check out the project: Maria Oberfrank / PITOUR
Check out the project: Sisa Holla
Check out the project: Lenka Sršňová
Check out the project: Andrea Pojezdalova
Check out the project: Nevena Ivanović for NEO design studio
Check out the project: Ivana Pilja
Check out the project: Ana Ljubinković
Check out the project: Peter Movrin
Check out the project: Borut Šulin
Check out the project: Matea Benedetti
Check out the project: Georgi Florov / IVAN ASSEN 22 conceptual designers’ platform
Check out the project: Marjan Pejoski / KTZ
Check out the project: Fotini Lagaki / Fotini Lgk
Curator: Meta Megušar Bizjan; assistant curators: Maja Filipič and Irena Tozon Mrhar