Designer quickie: Aba Drvar-Tomičić.

Following last Dreft Fashion Week Zagreb I had a chance to interview Aba Drvar-Tomičić. Young designer who's super cute faux leather jackets for SS 2013. season totally won me over! Especially styled with maxi cotton dresses which I often wear! Another reason to do this interview was a boutique opening at Nova Ves 84 street in Zagreb which Sonja Lamut  whom I interviewed earlier this year and Aba have opened together. 

How hard it is to be creative in today’s volatile economic environment? Where do you make most compromises? Where do you manage to save and what is the most expensive part of making a collection?

It does get hard sometimes.  In order to create a good quality piece one usually needs to spend a good amount of money. When it comes to building a brand it gets especially hard to make any progress without significant financial investment. Lately it seems like all of us young designers are becoming experts in creating something out of nothing.

I actually make compromises in every step of the collection making process. 

Each time I start quite ambitiously in hopes that I will be able to manage pull out full collection and execute my essential idea to its fullest but then slowly but surely reality kicks in and I start to compromise on each thing a bit without hurting the quality of fabrication and making as much as possible in order to finalize my collection. Usually the most expensive things are little details which break the set budget at the end.

Jacket - 1000kn | Dress - 800kn

Jacket - 1000kn | Dress - 800kn

When you look back now what is that one thing you wish someone have told you when you were a student about being a fashion designer?

I started to study fashion design at the time when textile industry in Croatia was still going strong and fashion design still underrated. When I completed my studies, textile production in Croatia started weakening and design started strengthening a bit, now I feel like it it overrated in some cases, especially in comparison to the textile production and quality of making.  

I would like there to be some gold-middle where one can learn about design through practice and how demanding this job really is. It would be great if there were experienced designers in Croatia who could mentor me through the whole process of planning, creating and presentation.

In what way do you see fashion designers and social media are changing fashion industry?

Social media and fashion bloggers are making fashion much more dynamic, personal and approachable, everything has became much faster. Trends are changing faster than ever which puts personal style in focus and fashion is getting a whole new meaning and dynamic.

How would you comments textile industry and fashion design in Croatia today? Do you think it is possible to live solely of fashion design?

I think that fashion design in Croatia has matured a lot in last several years with it, domestic fashion houses realized importance of hiring good fashion designers as a key to good sales and production of their production.

Unfortunately, due to current financial situation I think there will still be some time before Croatian textile industry recovers fully.  In order for this to happen a strong push is needed which will bring together expert from various fields: business people, designers, pattern makers, technological support and PR experts which currently doesn’t seem to be feasible?

Currently, small manufacturing sites are surviving and managing well designer part of work but also business and PR.

I still can’t live solely of my job, I just started and investment needed is massive.

How did the fact that you became a mum changed your creative process and influenced your work?

Actually, I decided to complete my fashion education after I gave birth to my third child, so my kids are actually from the start of my education.

I truly believe that the fact I have kids has motivated me to continue and finalize my education, and to fight to do we hat I love and become a complete person.  As with most of the families with little kids, we never have enough time in one day to do all we want to do.

What is your average customer like?

I really have various types of clients, just like I work within a range of styles.

Roughly I would say that my clients are in their early thirties and many seem to be quite artistic.

The price range of my pieces is quite reasonable I think, from 250 kn for shirts which I paint manually up to 1500 kn for the faux fur, double side coat from my last collection.

Recently you have opened a boutique in Zagreb with your colleague designer Sonja Lamut, what are you plans for the future?   

Sonja and I have studied together at Profokus school of design and we have been friends ever since. We have completely different creative goals but we appreciate and respect each other’s work and are always here for each other. This is how we decided to open a boutique together at Nova Ves 84 street in Zagreb which we are currently redecorating and looking forward to its opening. 

Vukovar - Croatian word for freedom.

It was five a clock in the winter afternoon and it was already dark. We were not allowed to turn on the lights in our apartment. The city was under air attacks again, attacks were happening couple of times a day.

I was 5 years old, sitting behind the curtain with my nose touching the cold glass balcony doors yelling out to my mum the names of the neighbours in our building in whose apartments I could still see some light, I was scared that bomb will hit our building if they don't turn all of the lights off.

When we heard the siren, many times in the middle of the night, we would take our blankets, some water, my doll and rushed down the stairs together with the rest of the people from our building to the concrete shelter positioned in the middle of the building's yard, under the ground. The shelter was stalked with iron bunk beds without mattresses. Our mums would just fold the blankets and lift up several of us kids to one bed and tried to keep us calm and quite. There were mostly women, kids and old people there.

 We didn't hear from my dad for a long time now, he was somewhere close to grandparents house wearing military uniform and hunting rifles (as they didn't have any real weapons yet) together with his brother trying to break through the thick woods on foot, get my grandparents out of the harms way and try to defend the house they were born in from Serbs who marched into Croatia trying to win over, rob and burn as much as they could while killing the people who tried to stop them.

They managed to get the grandparents out but the house was burned to the ground. Next few years we didn't see much of my dad, he was coming and going every few months with some other soldiers to pick up military candles, boots and equipment which my uncle bought and shipped from Chicago.

Our apartment was always full of people and shipping boxes, my uncles family lived with us for some time - aunt, niece and nephew who were refuges from their city as it was to dangerous to live in at the time. My mum traveled daily and worked close to Zagreb at the town which was heavily attacked and bombarded every day, she was pregnant at the time, after work she would go to get some food, powder milk and military cookies in order to make somewhat decent meal for all of us at home.

Sometimes there was not much food, but my mum being as creative as she is was able to make sweets for us only from egg yolk and some sugar, she tried hard to make our life as normal as possible. My sister and I were still to little to understand much but we asked lots of questions, one question I remember never getting the answer to neither from my parents nor from dad's military friends was : 'Why are they throwing bombs at us, why do they want to kill us?'

Now, I am not a nationalist, I don't hate anyone, I didn't see the worst of it during the war like kids in Vukovar or Bosnia did. I am blessed because I didn't loose anyone from my immediate family and I was way to little to understand what was going on.

 The fact is, there are certainly no kids from Serbia who can tell you the story of Croatian army throwing bombs in their back yard or taking their dad to concentration camp - because Croatian land was invaded and Croatian people were attacked and that is the simple fact which has now been officially recognised and proved by international court of justice with recent liberation of our military generals who lead our countries defense to victory. Now, our nation and it's war victims got their dignity back and with this their sacrifices were not made in vain.

Today, 22 years later, we are remembering Vukovar and it's victims, the city and the people who's homes and bodies were front line of Croatian defense,Vukovar was our shield which protected the country from falling under aggressors hands and Vukovar and thousands of people who lost their lives for us to be able to call this country our own, to speak our language and live our culture, which many people take as given or for granted. Vukovar should NEVER EVER be forgotten.

The world needs to know the truth about Vukovar and never let it happen again nowhere else, not in Gaza, not in Syria.

Croata art director interview

Did you know that the home country of a tie is Croatia? Indeed, tie used to be a part of Croatian national atire back in the days. Traditional Croatian company known to deliver superiror quality ties, scarves and leather goods - Croata is now modernizing and following trends but staying true to brands origins, Croatian national patterns and motives as well as luxurious materials and hand made stiching they are known and recognized by.

Recently, I had a pleasure to interview the art director of Croata, Mrs. Mihaela Grnović Novaković who told me more about brands creative direction and modern approach brand is taking now in production and promotion.

In one of my upcoming posts you will be able to see multiple ways I wear their star product - maxi luxurious silk scarf as well as some other cool stuff from their collections. 

What is your opinion on how fashion industry in Croatia is developing?

Textile industry in Croatia and in the world in general is not flourishing now as it was in „golden“ 80's and beginning of 90's, but growing number and quality of fashion events and visible enthusiasm of young talented people, designers who work now in fashion here in Croatia today are definitely promising a better future for this industry. I actually see social media and bloggers largely positively contributing to this proces.

Did you ever contemplate cooperation with any of the young and perspective Croatian fashion designers?

Croata as you know has our designers; no we are definitely open for future cooperation with some of the Croatian designers.

Croata is known and recognized for its overall quality and handmade product. The quality of our product is based exactly on usage of these expensive, luxurious silk fibers in production and finalizing the product with handmade detailing. The process of making a handmade tie is very complex and it requires luxurious fabrics, a lot of experience, brand knowledge and love.

I think there used to be such perception before, more so because of the fact we are using the motives from Croatian national heritage as patterns on our ties and mostly in our special occasion, more traditional collections reserved mostly for weddings.We also offer accesories of fine leather and trendy design.

Do you sell outside of Croatia as well? How many stores is there in total?

Yes, Croata is sold internationally as well as on the internet, people are indeed interested and want to buy recognizable Croatian brand known by its famous motives, historic brand heritage and quality.

 It total there are ten Croata stores and one Outlet.

How much do you really follow fashion trends in accessories industry? Where do you get raw materials for your collections and where do you manufacture?

Of course, we follow world fashion trends; we visit industry fairs and other fashion events worldwide, for example in Milan and Paris. We want to be trendy but not in very fore coming and obvious way like season's hot color or motive as this is not giving brand a deeper. full story to tell.

We invest a lot of effort in collection development, from choosing the patterns, production technique, technological potential and developments of new patterns, final touches and handmade details with different fibers then base of the fabric etc.

Most of the pieces in Croata collection are made out of very luxurious and fine silk fibers. We get raw material from our international wholesale partners but we do all of the production here in Croatia.

Do you think that Croata although traditional and well recognized Croatian luxurious fashion brand is now considered old fashion by general public?

But I do not think that Croata brand is old-fashion. In contrary, in our new collections you can still find Croata's recognizable patterns but we have also incorporated trendy colors and Croatian national heritage elements.

The proof of this is that we are having more and more younger customers who know what they want and value the quality our products offer so they go for thin ties with trendy patterns and colors, trendy and luxurious silk scarves, bow ties in different colors and patterns from casual tartan to very formal ones.

This season our hero product is large silk scarf made in couple of different designs, shiny and rich in texture and sophisticated look which can be worn in number of different ways.

Fashion designer crush: Juan Vidal

Spending a lot of time in Madrid Spain lately, I became curious about Spanish fashion and local 

designers. This time I decided to feature one I found particularly interesting.

The son, grandson and great-grandson of tailors while his mother held a boutique, Juan Vidal has grown up surrounded by fabric and patterns. After a childhood defined by fashion, his career choice came as no surprise and he was soon to become one of the exponents of new design from Valencia, on Spain’s east coast.

His talent became obvious at an early age and he produced his first designs when he was just 15. Later, he would begin his Fine Art studies at the University of Barcelona, UB, only to change his mind after the first cycle and transfer to a specialist fashion course at the Felicidad Duce School of Design and Fashion.

In September 2005 Juan participated in Barcelona’s ModaFAD, where he won the Best Collection award. The following year, he presented his first professional collection at Bread & Butter Barcelona and Pasarela Barcelona (July 2006), and went on to reap success at the Pasarela Barcelona, Gaudí Novias, Barcelona Bridal Week, Ego Cibeles, South Cádiz and Valencia Fashion Week.

In 2009, he won Revlon’s Best Collection Award and in 2010, the Tendencias Moda Designer of the Year award before going on to win Peronda’s Best Collection awards for his Autumn-Winter 2011 and Spring-Summer 2012 collections in 2011.

With his participation in the International Zip Zone Paris fairin October, where he received an excellent response from international buyers, 2011 has proven to be a key year for the designer’s entry into the international arena.

His artistic training is evident in his use of colour, as well as in his clearly architectural perception of volume. It is also imprinted on his use of fabrics, to which he adds his personal touch in the form of exquisite embroidery, appliqués and other expert techniques. 

Juan Vidal’s creations are designed with a very chic, sensitive woman in mind; one who, while looking towards the future is familiar with classic cultural references and knows how to appreciate detail.

Here you can see the photos from Juan Vidal's Spring 2012. Collection.

Photo and text source: http://www.fashionfromspain.com

How do you like Vidal's work lovelies?

From boardroom to red carpet! - Lei Lou SS 2012.

Boardroom to red carpet was the first what came to my mind looking at Lei Lou by Alex Dojčinović SS 2012. Collection. Alex has stayed true to her brand equity, flirting with trends but not being bound by them.

As I wrote in one of my previous reviews of Lei Lou collections, Alex is a Lei Lou women, strong, confident, independent, intelligent, knows exactly what she wants, but still a true lady, polite, kind, warm and romantic, fragile and gentle. This is why she is able to understand and cater to alike women who buy her pieces – she is one of them and she truly knows what they want and need living such a busy, working women lifestyle. 

     So she creates comfortable, multi–wear pieces using best quality fabrications, gorgeous statement accessories which accommodate all of the working women needs  from work day (big purses or maxi envelope bag which fits iPad) to attending after work events (small bright purses & clutches and chunky  jewelry).

All photos via www.moda.hr

This season’s collections common denominators are mint, gold, aqua and nude color pallet, statement clear cut purses and square clutches, perfectly tailored pencil skirt romanticized with mint color lace or suggested floral print worn effortlessly looking with a second skin soft and silky blouses and gorgeous maxi dresses which can be worn with a fitted jacket during the work day and without it for a glam night and a fitted sleavless work dresses with ruffle sleaves.

Shop the new Lei Lou collection by contacting Lei Lou showroom:

 Facebook / Twitter / Showroom.

Lights.Camera.Action.

   Fashion.hr Industrija, fashion trade fair & promotional event combined with fashion.hr fashion shows in the night hours are kicking off the fashion events season in Croatia, which consists of three fashion weeks in total: fashion.hr, Cro-a-porter and Fashion Week Zagreb, in that exact order, stretching from end September to end November.

        Those who follow my blog know that I choose to write about Croatian fashion events sparingly and I am rather focused on highlighting the selected local designer for which I think based on my practical experiences of working in fashion business (retail, wholesale & fashion weeks) and now in PR for large global company, have a good quality product, well developed overall business strategy and brand strong enough to compete on relentless global market.

Bellow you can read my previous posts with commentary on mentioned Croatian fashion weeks:

Let's talk Croatian fashion

Birth of an industry 

Dreft Fashion Week Zagreb 

Cro-a-porter  

Announcing Croatian trade show event

One of these designers who’s show I am super excited to see tomorrow is of my fabulous friend Alex Dojčinović, now widely recognized in Croatia as a star designer with an enormous perspective for an international expansion and success, as she has proven to be consistent in designing quite concise and highly sellable collections with aesthetics and price points with which most of women can relate to and can afford.

My review of Alex’s new collection is due tomorrow right after the show! Hopefully I will manage to also visit Fashion.hr Industrija trade show during the day on Saturday before departing for Madrid, as they have set a quit interesting schedule for the next couple of days.

I am curious to also learn about your perspective on Croatian fashion weeks, what are your expectations darlings?

"As a fashion designer, I was always aware that I was not an artist,

 because I was creating something that was made to be sold, marketed, used, and ultimately discarded."

Tom Ford

Lei Lou inspiration

I was inspired by my favorite Croatian designer dresses and decided to style them my way.

You might remember the quickie interview I did with now well known and established Croatian designer Alex Dojčinović, as well as my other posts on her collections.

Romance is Alive and well

Resort fabulosity by Lei Lou 

Ups she did it again 

She moves, she moves 

Lei Lou Resort 2011.

Soon you will be able to order Lei Lou collections via Not Just a Label but now you can order these elegantly designed multi-wear unique pieces from Lei Lou showroom in Zagreb via phone or email and they will be sent to your home address.

Contact Lei Lou Showroom via email/Facebook/Twitter.

Here is  my take on the latest Lei Lou dress selection.

How would you wear it lovelies?

A cup of fashion

It’s been a while since I went to "Moda sa šlagom" / "Fashion with cream" - a gathering of young designers in an improvised showroom in a regular café on a Saturday morning. I used the opportunity to go this past weekend with my friend Armina from Sarajevo who is a passionate fashionista as well, so I knew she would appreciate it as much as I do.

These creative cafe showroom sales have been going on for two years now in Zagreb and have also expended and evolved internationally recently. 

So this past Saturday in an old school movie theatre an improvised showroom display has been put together by 15 designers from Croatia and Bosnia displaying and selling their reasonably priced clothing and accessories.

These kinds of gatherings help young designer to experience a competitive selling environment, to learn how to present their work and most importantly how to price it according to the demand and perceived value. Other than that, it is a great opportunity for networking with extremely creative and inspiring young people.

My favorites were Mica Torbica bags and purses - I have found an amazing bag which is 3 in 1 - purse and a double face bag. 

I also fell in love in gorgeous ethno looking braided necklace by Little Wonder - which Armina got me as a "visiting present", she bought the matching earrings so we can swap. :)

There were also many interesting technology inspired jewelry pieces by various designers.

Is anything similar going on in your city? Let me know! Would love to hear about it! :)

Designer quicky: Louis De Gama

1.What kind of women is Louis De Gama women?

A strong woman, which is not afraid of expressing her sexuality and personality. A woman uses clothing as an expression of her moods, that can be vulnerable and fragile(lace, silk chiffons) or strong and business minded (leather and mix wool/leather constructions) or a mixture of both, but nevertheless uses fashion as a expansion  and identify projection.

2. What is your vision for your brand in terms of growth?

World dominance, louis de gama was primarily set up as a brand name, which has the potential to introduce other lines and create a life style brand identity.

3. Other than having your own company and your store location in London, you are also a fashion school professor, what role is your primary role and why? 

I am primarily a fashion designer, I only happen to be a teacher because I have a fashion business and there is a crucial need of industry people in academic roles for a more realistic approach on teaching. My contribution to the students is that they keep their feet on the ground and gain insight on the industry. A student development isn’t complete without that and also working placements in the industry has to be a inclusive module in any creative course.

4. When you look at kids coming out of fashion schools today, considering todays economy and talent pool what do you see they are missing and what is their advantage vs. previous generations? 

I think with the ‘overture’ of fashion and all the technologic advances of today, fashion has become much more accessible at the touch of the button for everybody! I think there shouldn’t be no excuses for lack of contemporary awareness, it doesn’t matter if you live in a remote city in Africa or Asia or in the Paris, as long as the internet is available you should amass the same knowledge. So there are no excuses for lack of contemporary awareness, but going back to your question….ermmmm I think I have answered it already!

5. How many fashion shows do you do a year and does it pay off financially? Why do you do them?

I do about 3-4 fashion shows. I am mostly invited as a guest to showcase my creations. I guess my collections must have an international appeal!!!(trying to be modest!!!)

6. What do you think about this years Dreft Fashion Week Zagreb? 
What are the good things this year vs. previous years and what are the opportunities for growth? 

I was so positively surprise with the last Dreft fashion week. The venue looked the part, it exuded international standards both the runaway and the VIP area, the production was superb, the amount of helpers we had to deliver the show was fantastic. 
The production team was very professional. Well done to the organizers, that is definitely the way forward and to a certain person that pulled and demanded change. Croatia should be proud to present such high standard fashion event  specially considering the apparel  market segment is still considerably low, comparing to other major fashion capitals in the world.

The only criticism is exactly that: fashion does not exist without sales, no designer can create and realize its creations without funding therefore it’s about time a sales exhibition runs alongside to  the event. 
The only way the fashion industry will ever grow in Croatia is if organizers start looking at commercial side of it, at the business side of fashion rather for status and elitist purposes. It is a huge task, but one that needs consideration and mutual consensus by the responsible organizations/institutions.

7. What is your impression of Croatian young designers which you had opportunities to see/grade and spend time with in Croatia during their contest event? Who would you identify as special talent to watch and follow?

Awwww, there is so much  young talent  in Croatia. We the judges of "Modni Ormar" were so impressed by the sheer genuine passion and commitment of some students. I will not mention names because I might appear to have favourites, which would not be a professional practice, but talent is immense in Croatia.
Please support these kids as their talent is too precious to dissipate and waste.

8. What are your future plans for your brand? 

Always expansion, bring more lines and welcoming a business backer, so if anybody with fashion flair is reading this, feel free to contact me.

9. How would you describe your style and what drives and inspires you for collections? 

I’d say my style is a little eclectic, mostly because of my mix background, but eclectic sounds a little pejorative, I think in the creative battle to mix different elements/materials together harmoniously resides Louis de Gama ethos and trade mark which combines a feminine silhouette and a aim aesthetic.

10. How does your brainstorming process looks like in between collections do you have the team you work with? 

Most of the collections starts with a silhouette in mind, and it is always an exasperation for an aesthetic and them the harmonious mixture with the fabric and trimmings. 
Never a rigid theme, always ever evolving  to aim at the aesthetic! 
Emotions, beauty, technical skill and resources come to play here. it is always a very challenging process and incredibly rewarding! 
There are always 5-6 people working in my atelier on our daily tasks.

Shop the night away tomorrow in Zagreb!

Fashion's night out - Vogue's initiative which jump started the wave of late night shopping events has been traveling across the world announcing the Fashion Weeks world wide, inspiring and motivating people to enter the designer stores where the full luxury, unique feel only designer clothes has hits them as soon as they enter the store.
   
Finally we have such event in Zagreb. We are staying true to Croatian designers, driven by fashion enthusiasts from www.moda.hr fashion portal who have been unbiasedly following and supporting as well as educating Croatian designers on how to promote, advertise and sell, since this is not something which is obviously being taught ar Croatian fashion college. 


We are trying to revive Croatian fashion industry currently on life support. Rich with young designer talent while lacking modern production facilities, goverment support and business educated professionals with clear vision for the industry longterm. 


Here we go, bellow are some of the designers opening the doors of their boutiques, preparing supprise parties, jazz concerts and best of all 30% and up discounts on this seasons as well as on SS 11' seasons collections which are still hot from the runways!

I got my eyes on the Alduk chain purse with a fur detail, Lei Lou cream open back dress and a belt and ELFS skinny bow jeans.


Enjoy lovelies! :)

Foto: Goran Čižmešija

Styling: Jasmina Arnautović

Model: Ana Vukelić / Taliamodel

Make up: Nena Mrkonjić

Hair: Tajana Akalović / Evelin