MINDLESS by Katarzyna Dworecka

Katarzyna Dworecka is the designer behind MINDLESS. Her newest collection 'SUNNY SIDE UP' is like a walk down memory lane, a translation of her childhood memories. The atmosphere of the collection is dreamy, almost fairy-tale like. The collection gives an impression of being wrapped in the safe cocoon of childhood, and this is punctuated by fun, childlike accessories.

The collection will be showcased at the Show Programme on Saturday the 16th of June at the SAM-Decofabriek. You can get your tickets here.

What made you realize that you wanted to work in (fashion) design?
I was always passionate about clothes, since my childhood years I read fashion magazines and loved the idea that you can say so much through the way you dress, make a kind of a statement. Besides, I was a part of the modern dance group, for 10 years and we were participating in different kinds of dance competitions, so for each choreography, we had different costumes, it was a really fun way of expression. I was used to the mixture of sound, movement, and costume forming a whole, in order to tell a story. But the idea of me being a fashion designer came later, when I graduated my MA in finance and all of my friends were starting their career in corporations. Then, I realized it’s now or never time for me to make a change in my life, so I enrolled to fashion design course at Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design. So far, I think it was the best decision of my life.

Why did you choose fashion? 
I love the idea that you can tell people a story or show them what it is you are about, without the need to speak. That’s the beauty of it.

What would you say are your main achievements in your career?
I have just graduated Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design and my graduate collection met with great enthusiasm, I won media award and a special award for creativity and visionary during Cracow Fashion Week. This is something that convinced me that I am on the right path. Another big thing for me is FASHIONCLASH Festival, I am so honored that I will be able to show my work among other excellent designers from all around the world. It’s something that I am definitely looking forward the most.

What are your sources of inspiration?
I believe that you can be inspired by anything. It doesn’t matter what the content is, it just matters that you expose yourself to something new and explore new things all the time. I love going to museums, especially to see modern art exhibitions, for me, it’s an endless source of inspiration. What I love about art is that’s really subjective, one person might see something in someone's work that other people don't see. A concept, sometimes just one small element of an artwork, a color can start a process in your subconscious, which will flow out to your mind during the design process.

Why did you decide to participate in FASHIONCLASH Festival 2018? 
It's an amazing opportunity to show my work among other incredibly talented designers to a broader international audience. I am super excited to be a part of it, especially because it will be my first international fashion show.

What do you love most about (fashion) design? What are the biggest struggles faced by young designers?
The thing I love most about fashion design is a possibility to express different things, transfer your values and mindset on your designs. Nowadays most of the communication between fashion brands and customers go through social media and unfortunately, algorithms changes on SM platforms makes it harder to reach as broad audience as before. Another challenge for young fashion designers is to thrive in a fashion industry because of the lack of business skills, despite the fact that they can design, countless people with incredible ideas vanish. Despite many difficulties, I believe that if someone remains open minded, positive and fights for their dreams, they can be successful.

How would you define fashion?
For me fashion is freedom, it is amazing how fashion can connect people regardless of gender, age, race, religion, or sexuality. The great thing about fashion is that it’s much more inclusive these days, thanks to social media and Instagram many people have an opportunity to express themselves through fashion.

What do you think are the most important issues in fashion today?
I believe ethical fashion is the main issue - an approach that will change the way design, sourcing and manufacturing are done by maximizing benefits to people and communities while minimizing the indelible impact on the environment and our natural resources. It’s an extremely long and difficult process that cannot happen overnight but I am glad that ethical fashion is on the rise as more fashion brands, both new and existing are either born with or transitioning to sustainable, ecological and ethical clothing supply chains and production methods.

How do you think fashion contributes to society, can it contribute to a better world?
Fashion is a reflection of social, economic, political and cultural changes in society. It plays a big role when it comes to symbolize the spirit of the times we live in. Fashion has become such an important part of human culture and identity, clothes not only shape our society but ourselves as individuals as well. Therefore fashion is a powerful tool, when used right it can contribute to lots of positive changes. The fashion industry is the second largest - after oil- polluter to the environment and to the people involved in the production process. I’m glad that there is a rising trend in consumers consciousness, about how fast fashion retailers produce their merchandise, and a lot of young designers are focusing on issues such as sustainability and ethics when it comes to designing and producing clothes.

What challenges do you face in the design process? What are your favorite parts of the process? When it comes to designing, it’s always about color. Mixing it in a balanced but playful way. It’s a little bit like painting for me, I love saturated, bright colors which brings joy and happiness to mind, so I would say finding the perfect fabric can be quite challenging. It’s hard to say which part of the process is my favorite, because they vary so much, from excitement to frustration, enthusiasm to irritation and final satisfaction when my design comes to life.

Describe your design process in one word.
Chaos.

How would you describe the concept behind your project (for FASHIONCLASH)?
My collection „Sunny Side Up” was inspired by my childhood. I wanted to convey all of my memories, read books and fairy tales through this collection. Soft, scaled forms of clothes are supposed to wrap the figure and create a safe "cocoon". An important aspect of the collection is the original print that I made with the sublimation printing technique. It’s supposed to bring to mind children's scribbles. I also transformed fabric through the use of traditional Japanese shibori techniques in order to achieve three-dimensional, bubble wrap-like structure. I wanted the collection to be positive with playful accouterments and a little bit of humor and irony running throughout. I really love fun fashion and I wanted to reflect that in my collection.Through the accessories such as exaggerated colorful gloves, headbands with big bows, and mattress shape-like backpack I intend to create a dreamy, fluffy, fairy-tale atmosphere.


What inspired you?
Carefree childhood time. When I grow up there were no internet or video games, so I spent most of my time reading books, I was a real bookworm, so all these stories somehow shaped me and my way of thinking, and only now, while creating this collection, I had the opportunity to go back to them in order to pull the best out of it.

How would you describe your project in three words?
unlimited pure happiness

What projects are you involved in at the moment? What are your next steps?
I just graduated from Cracow School of Fashion Design and slowly starting to think about my own brand. It would be like a dream coming true for me, but just anything can happen, I stay open to different possibilities.



What are your thoughts regarding fashion and religion?
In spite of appearances, fashion has much in common with religion. From my point of view there are different kinds of aesthetics, just like there are different religions and that could be something that brings people together or divides them. The beauty of fashion is that the line between various aesthetics is quite blurry and can permeate one another creating something totally new and revelatory.

What does your day look like during the design process?
My days during the design process vary from each other so much. Sometimes I spend all my day just searching for the perfect fabrics, cause I’m quite picky when it comes to textiles. For me, it’s the most important aspect of bringing my design to life. Some other time, there are hours spend on the sewing machine making samples and cutting. There’s an idea in my head and I always know what I want to do, but sometimes during the process it evolves and something even better comes out, that is why I do not see the point of sketching. Of course, I sketch sometimes but to be honest, sketches are too unrealistic, you need to leave yourself this freedom to make a change in your design, to let it speak to you.

Who is your favorite artist?
It’s incredibly hard to choose one, but I would say Marina Abramovic, for her courage to explore boundaries of body and mind. When I first saw her work I remember it made a great impact on me, I felt the power of it. The beauty of her performance lies in the fact that every person will be affected by it in a different but very transformative way. The interpretation is left up to whoever is looking at it to take what they want from it.

Who is your favorite designer?
I admire so many fashion designers, each one for something different. I will just name few but the list is so long in my case. Rei Kawakubo for her unique vision, that challenged fashion aesthetic. I feel very connected to her designs. Raf Simons for androgynous aesthetic with a focus on individuality. Rule - breaking Vivienne Westwood for bringing a subculture's style into the mainstream and translating it into fashion language. Simone Rocha for her unique vision, fresh design aesthetic which elevates femininity to a totally different level. And so the list goes on and on, especially when so many talented designers come up each year.