15th edition of Skopje Fashion Weekend

15th jubilee edition of Skopje Fashion Weekend/ FWSK SS 17 

Under the motto "Pure individuality" on March 31st in the salon "Porsche Macedonia" the 15th jubilee edition of Skopje Fashion Weekend was opened and the event which runned until April 2nd.
The Spring-Summer 2017 season was opened by the designer Jovana Filipovic with the collection for which was a homage to the cooperation that began five years ago between Filipovic and "Pelisterka."

For the first time at Skopje Fashion Weekend was the show of Emira Imeri with the collection "Heyoka". The evening wrapped up with the collection of "Alshar" titled "Out of Africa".

The second day started with a group show of 15 students from the Faculty of Art and Design at the European University R. Macedonia, called "Chic-shock effect."

student show

For the first time at Fashion Weekend Skopje was "Atelier Kocareva" with the collection "History is written by the winners" followed by "Marsin" and the collection "Bond lady". At the end of the second night we will see the latest collection of Irina Tosheva.
The last day featured "Walon fashion group" with the collection "Plumes et Perles", the "Paolo Bocelli" show, Sarah Redzic and "Elize".

The highlight of the 15th edition was the end with the three finalists selected at the recent contest "Fashion Scout SEE": "Victor Kaiser", "Shaleva Couture" and "Ana Marija". They first showed on Belgrade Fashion Week on March 28th, where the most talented Balkan designer was selected to show at London Fashion Week in September. The winner of this contest Neo Design will show her work at Fashion Scout in Londen and during FASHIONCLASH Festival in Maastricht.

http://fashionweekendskopje.mk/

Victor Kaiser

Exploring Inspirations

Presented during Belgrade Fashion Week in April, Exploring inspirations supported by Stimulering Fund Creative Industries Fund Netherlands, will be on display during FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016.

Exploring Inspirations project took place in 2015 with Dutch and Serbian designers participating in three stages: clothing, jewelry and shoe design. All designers took part in workshops with experienced craftsmen. Clothing items based on knitwear technique, onsite, with knitters demonstrating the patterns and possibilities of the wool material.
Jewelry design phase was centered around a filigree masterclass workshop with experienced goldsmith from Macedonia, Biljana Klekačkoska who explained the technique so that the designers mastered it in just four days of intense work and produced their own prototype jewelry designs in silver.
Shoe design workshop focused on opanak shoe (the traditional Balkan type of shoe) as an inspiration. The craftsmen from Kiri manufacture of traditional costumes held a demonstration of opanak assembling and leather preparation before the designers, enabling them the insight of the stages and method of constructing the details that are involved in their drawings later.

The results: sketches of contemporary garments and shoes and jewelry. The production of which involves the application of an appropriate technique that was chosen at the workshop. These designer pieces, in addition to being modern, first of all preserve the crafts that are inspired by: traditional patterns of knitwear from Sirogojno, traditional opanak techniques of knitting leather and filigree embroidery in silver with outstanding detail. Therefore, each piece has the aura of cultural heritage as an added value.
Conny Groenewegen, Sanne Jansen, Irina Somborac, Nina Sajet, Nhat-Vu Dang, Nenad Sojaković, Amber Ambrose Aurele, Deniz Terli, i Jan Jansen designed together a mini collection, which has nothing to do with trends, but is somehow transferring capsule legacy of the past into the modern era. It is a capsule collection themed around the craftsmanship techniques from the Balkans.

In addition, the special guest during the exhibition in Belgrade was the brand Afriek, also from Amsterdam whose methods are very similar to the project. Brand Afriek produces a very small series of men's clothing made from traditional African fabrics with vibrant color prints and also employ African workers in making the clothes. The long-term objective of the project Exploring Inspirations is certainly production of this collection and its accessories, networking new guest designers who will be inspired by other traditional crafts and complement this collection in the future.

Exploring Inspirations is supported by Stimulering Creative Industries Fund Netherlands.

http://www.gradbeograd.eu

Encounter with Albania

Berat - Berat - The City of a Thousand Windows

Albania! Well this was the most spontaneous holiday decision ever. Albania was not really on my to do list but through recommendation from my sister I though, why not. This is also exactly how it felt. It is not a holiday destination for everyone, but for openminded travelers it is. People are really friendly and the country has it's authentic culture and rough beauty. It is clear to see that the whole country is in development and that a lot has happened since it has fought its way to democracy.
What can you do in Albania? Well it is of course quite similar to other Balkan countries. There is a coast line with beaches, there are some old Unesco towns, there is an interesting and lively capital. Yes Tirana is lively and surprisingly colorful. Seven days is not much but enough for an short encounter and if you are around make a turn to Albania.

Below you can see my picture report and some impressions.

Melissanthi Spei - Beautiful is Just Another Degree of Terrible

"The starting point of the project was the current economic crisis, especially in Greece, which is where I come from, and how we can use our own cultural resourses to create something new which will give a new direction to the future generations. I think there is so much in folklore culture, especially when you look at the Balkans which have not been exploited and it is a same as it is fading away and it is really up to young people to make it stand out." 

The aim of this project is to study how social and cultural everyday life issues can be translated within fashion context to present a fresh point of view, in this case by bringing new attention to tradition. The collection concept is current, personal and helps me evolve through an exploration of my cultural heritage.
Melissanthi Spei recently graduated from London College of Fashion.
http://melissanthispei.com/

Credits
• Photographer: Nikolas Ventourakis
• Model: Claudia Devlin (Premier Model Management)
• Hair Stylist: Stelios Chondros
• Make up artist: Kristina Ralph

Apocalypse SS 2012 by SADAK

SADAK is for years one of my favorite labels and somehow I forgot to blog about it. So here it is.

I would love to post all his work, but for that I advise you to have look at the website: http://www.sadak.de 
He works most of the time with amazing photographer Daniel Bolliger-Samo.
SADAK is a label by a Berlin based designer Saša Kovacevic. He is originally from Serbia. He graduated from Kunsthochschule-Berlin in 2010.
The whole concept of SADAK is based on tradition, ethnography, anthropology, history, and clothing. Saša incorporates a variety of elements from proceeding periods, together with the clothing features of the period when they were made and worn, often using the mystical and poetic stories. SADAK is the ancient name for a traditional sleeveless jacket worn in some regions of the Balkans. The preserved magical meaning of sadak in its original oral and visual context is transformed and adapted to contemporary reality, becoming independent through the development or construction of forms, figures, motifs, magical objects, statements, temporal codes of society, space, objects and functions of protagonists.


'APOCALYPSE' SS 2012 collection is a dream in silks, cottons and leather 'Apocalypse´: Robes of Salvation, Garments of Joy,
With roots in Kovacevic’s Serbian heritage, Apokalypsis represents the thematic intersection of apocalypse and rapture. A dream in silks, cottons and leather, the collection imparts tranquility and spiritual joy. At the same time, designs are a surreal evokation of salvation and transcendence, a bold juxtaposition of age-old belief systems and post-modern science fiction. 


Photography: Daniel Bolliger-Samo 
Fashion: SADAK 
Styling:Laura Lazzura 
Make up:Anette Kamontt 
Models: Max@IZAIO.DE and Dario

HOSPITALITY project by Bogomir Doringer

First of all congratulations to Bogomir Doringer who recently graduated with the 'Hospitality' project. He got the Master's Degree in Film at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy (NFTA). Hospitality was showcased at IDFA,
24th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Please take some time for this project and read this interview with Bogomir by Marie-Paule Fritschy, www.sterschrift.nl.  interview


Take a look at the video portrait here, where Bogomir talks about this project and his work http://vimeo.com/28322265

My Belgrade by Boris Kralj

Boris Kralj: My Belgrade 

Just pictures and an intimate feeling remain in our mind, if we think about something which is gone forever. Boris Kralj's exhibition and photo book ‘My Belgrade’ tell the story about a country which does not exist anymore. Belgrade, a synonym for the last place which witnesses the artist's personal point of view on this very fragile theme Yugoslavia. On Kralj's numerous travels to the post Yugoslav countries, he discovered the little known city on the Balkan, which never had a heyday. It never came to suspicion to be a Paris of the East like other Eastern European cities, and was hardly mentioned, when it came to list the most beautiful places in Europe. It has been destroyed many times and forgotten by the rest of the world. Over the last two decades, it has become a synonym for a place of antipathy and violence.
However, this mystical and vivid city is the last evidence of Yugoslavia with its unmistakable signs, symbols and faces. For the last seven years Boris Kralj captured the bruised and melancholic spirit of Belgrade with his camera. It is strongly evident in the inimitable letterings on the decayed buildings and reflected in the faces of its people. Being tired of war, isolation and politics, Belgradians have kept a sense of nostalgia and above all awareness of their own origin in their hearts. Boris Kralj’s pictures are full of intensity and wistfulness, transporting the viewer to a place which is unknown to him and where the past, changeovers and new beginnings were always nearby; they are contemporary historical documents of a magical place.

Lamija Suljevic

For those who have not yeat seen the wonderful work of Lamija Suljevic. This is of the most beautiful collections I've this year.
Lamija Suljevic is upcoming fashion designer from Sweden. She is born in Bosnia, she pays tribute to her roots and origins in latest collection. Inspired by handicraft and luxurious old hand-made techniques, her goal is to bring back handmade crafts. Check her website: http://www.lamija.se/









pictures by Emma Jönsson Dysell