About Me
I'm Ewa and I always stay in between. UCA Epsom Fashion Design grad.
Playing with the multifunctionality of garments, as well as layering, is my main interest in terms of design. I am fascinated by volume and soft textures like Lycra, knitted fabrics or stuffed pieces that would stimulate the wearer’s sense of touch. My core inspiration usually derives from abstract sculptures, as well as socialist modernism architecture.
In order to create an authentic graduate collection, I decided that I need to think of my own perception of the world and fashion as a way of communication. My concept is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris” based on Stanisław Lem’s novel of the same title. The science-fiction philosophical piece discusses the matters of the Other, the Self, and the horrors of our memories that shape our identities. The garments I created are meant to change – most of them are adjustable and can be worn in several different ways.
INSPIRATION
The memories are forever, but everything is temporary
This idea is the core of the collection. The concept of “Solaris”, as well as my project, deals with what it means to feel real and multi-dimensional. Solaris is a planet and its only inhabitant is the mega-mind, living organism Ocean (the Other) which symbolises the flow of emotions, instability, and change. I used mesh and domette fabrics to convey the flow of water, and specifically with the latter, to show the transience of the fabric itself and its out-of-the-box use as a garment, not as interlining.
The shapes in the film – wadded walls of the spaceship and round windows – led me to Ernesto Neto’s futuristic installations made from styrofoam pellets and stretch fabrics that hold the shape of the whole work. These were translated into the statement pieces of my collection – the “blobs” with holes and filled in with cushion filling covered in Lycra. Since Neto’s work is multi-sensory, all of the fabrics I used, have a pleasant texture and some of them make a swooshing sound while walking.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
multiwear – skirt/jumper and skirt/shirt/dress
outfit 2 (skirt/jumper) developement page
outfit 3 (skirt/shirt/dress) + illustration
outfit 3 photoshoot
shape and mirror inspiration board
outfit 6 developement page
outfit 6 + illustration
outfit 6 photoshoot
final line-up
accessories – "blob" bag and shoes
outfit 1 – DOMETTE DRESS
outfit 1 – DOMETTE DRESS
outfit 1 photoshoot
outfit 4 lookbook
outfit 5 lookbook
lookbook styling variation
DETAIL
The coldness that makes one feel something
"Solaris" is distant and cold. It ties a perfect knot with the last component of the project, which is a direct link to Eastern European socialist modernism architecture. Since the piece has a deep meaning that can be interpreted in many ways, my focus was to show how our own thought processes, either about ourselves or the world surrounding us (or the world and realities we create ourselves) can be translated into layered clothing and multipurpose of garments. Different ways to wear the pieces, upside-down, tied in a different way or pulled to create a new, maybe unintentional effect, make the collection more organic and it’s up to the wearer what story they want to tell.Â
"I was going mad. I felt as if there was nobody underneath my skin and there was something else instead: as if I was just an illusion meant to mislead you." ― Stanisław Lem, "Solaris"
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
