Squat - Slovenian design collective

Please introduce the Squat collective:
We are a creative, observative, innovative, cooperative, commited, enthusiastic group of independent authors, specialized in fashion design, graphics design, art and creative direction. 



Can you tell us something about the Squat collective? 
We are a very diverse group of designers, each with a very specific point of view in fashion and design in general. However, as a group, we combine all of our different styles and perspectives to form distinct, but very cohesive collections. 

What is the history of Squat and who founded the initiative? 
Squat was founded by two prominent Slovenian designers, Natasa Persuh and Zoran Garevski. In 2010, they invited a group of young, unknown designers to form the younger branch of the brand, now called Young@Squat. 

Which designers will participate in FCM 2013? What can we expect? 
Young@Squat will participate in its full line up of designers – Peter Movrin, Sanija Reja, Petja Zorec, Anđela Lukanovič, Špela Hvale, Ivan Rocco, Dajana Ljubičič, Nena Florjančič, Katja Magister, Ana Jelinič and Nina Tomažin. Our collection, Between Sense and Sanity, is a bold, daring and cool fusion of both craft and modern techniques showing expertise in fashion textile design combined with a fearless future-vision. 

If you would have to describe characteristics of 'Slovenian' designers, what would that be? 
There is an ongoing debate on what the ‘DNA’ of Slovenian fashion is like as each designer is very specific in their concept and point of view. Characteristically, Slovenian fashion is diverse, but in its core and essence still very modern and contemporary. 


How did you come up with the title of the collection “Between Sense and Sanity”? 
The project (collection) is a challenge to us – we set a broad theme, which opens new questions and problems; what is between sense and sanity? How different is it from nonsense and insanity? 

Is there a connected idea/concept for your joint presentation? 
The idea is to bring together each of our specific answers to the given question and theme ‘Between Sense and Sanity’ and compose it into a connected and comprehensible collection. 

What kind of questions do you want to bring up with your work?
We challenge the standards of today’s fashion, style and design in general. Our goal is to not to change the existing rules, but to reject them, maybe even eliminate them. 

What can we expect from Squat in the future? 
Each project we take up is a fresh, new challenge, so that would be very hard to answer. However, with every new project, we hope to bring a fresh, new take on fashion and textile design.