Arkadius Retrospective

June 10, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

I just can’t emphasize enough how important the Arkadius exhibition at Central Museum of Textile in Łódź (Poland) is! Seeing all these garments finally IRL, masterfully preserved and in dialogue with works by contemporary Polish artists is a heartwarmingly emotional experience. What makes Arkadius’s oeuvre resonate especially now is its sensitivity towards humanity. He interprets cultures, religions and traditions from around the world in a beautiful and informed way, calling for global peace and love. Also, it’s eternally inspiring to see how the legendary designer and the creative who enamored London in the late 1990s and early 2000s plays with the idea(s) of Polish-ness: folklore, countryside life, Catholic imagination… all creating a joyful, exuberant mosaic of an artist’s creativity. Misunderstood in Poland at first, finally understood in 2020s – better late than never. This is a very significant moment for Polish fashion and I’m absolutely proud and happy to witness it.

The exhibition is open through July 2025 – you’ve got a year to visit Łódź!

You can revisit my interview with Arkadius here where we talk about the “Finale Icon” look from his iconoclastic “Virgin Mary Wears The Trousers” collection.

All photos by Edward Kanarecki.
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Wild Mustang. Jan F. Chodorowicz SS24

October 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jan F. Chodorowicz is one of the most exciting, emerging Polish designers right now. With every season, he evolves and expands his visual language, creating collections that orbit around the idea of functionality and utility. The sprig-summer 2024 collection is a further exploration of the codes of workwear, but through a Wild West lens. Chodorowicz focused on the analysis of the cowboy wardrobe, mining it both for its aesthetic and timelessness. Well, is there anything as timeless as the style and clothes we know from all the cowboy films? Think “Midnight Cowboy“, “Brokeback Mountain“, or the recent Almodóvar Western, “Strange Way of Life“. Chodorowicz’s vision of the contemporary cowgirl introduces several new categories for his brand like denim, printed silk and silver finishes. With the heart shape as a central motif, this collection plays with the codes of Americana in a cool, unforced way, delivering sharp clothes for a modern-day woman (who might really love riding a wild mustang).

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Reference Point. Jan Chodorowicz SS23

October 23, 2022October 23, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

When I was covering Jan Chodorowicz‘s debut collection, “SOCIALI/S/TE”, I was sure this young creative is about to lead a new wave of Polish designers emerging in the fashion industry. Spring-summer 2023 is his second collection, and it was presented to buyers and editors during Paris Fashion Week in the beginning of October. The latest offering explores further the codes of work-wear, a theme which the designer has been exploring since his MA at Central Saint Martins. According to Chodorowicz, the process of re-contextualization of work-wear, its details, materials and functions, lead to their adaptation for the wardrobe of a contemporary woman. As he told Vogue Poland, “so far, my work has been characterized by deep research. This time I worked differently, inspired by the clothes, the design process itself.” That especially shows in the masterful tailoring behind the new season trench coats and cargo pants (in the designer’s signature color of deep blue). The white tank-top, a genderless building-block of any utilitarian-wardrobe, is having a moment too in the collection. Still, the subtle, cultural references are present, and the designer really knows how to interweave them into his garments without going too literal. The unexpected pop of silver, in form of a shirt-and-pants set, is the result of profound inspiration with the film “Volcano of Love” (directed by Sara Dosa), which tells the story of a 1960s couple who traveled the world and identified volcanoes. To get close to the craters, they wore silver-coated suits. “For them it was work attire,” Jan sums up. The collection affiliates with the idea of a work-uniform of artists, especially of such sculpture mavericks as Alina Szapocznikow and Barbara Hepworth. According to the designer, the uniform you wear while creating something doesn’t necessarily have to mean one, monotonous look. That’s why his spring-summer 2023 is a proposal of clothes you can easily mix-and-match during that absorbing and exciting process of creative pursuit.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Hotness. Magda Butrym Resort 2023

July 20, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Unabashedly feminine and sexy, Magda Butrym‘s resort 2023 party-ready pieces sit in a league of their own – and continue to evolve in her new collection. The Polish designer delivers new off-shoulder necklines and the return of her signature, hot-red rose appliqués, now on separates, rendered in crochet and denim, and adorning an elongating pink number that exudes high statuesque glamour. She also introduces more coverage – most notably on a crystal-flecked long-sleeve gown in scintillating pale beige. The tailoring is sharp as usual, this time in an array of colours, from bold magenta to deep black. The pink long-sleeve floor sweeper with a dramatic side slit and floral-detailed high neck is the Aphrodite of Butrym’s latest eveningwear. These are clothes to dance in, all night, in the moonlight. No wonder why the collection is titled “Super Moon”.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Love Letter. Magda Butrym AW22

March 16, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

For autumn-winter 2022, Magda Butrym delivered a collection that balances her signature, chic finesse with a few delightful nods to her Polish roots. Those references definitely include the cultural legacy of early 20th century Zakopane, where artists created a new aesthetical identity inspired by the regional art of Poland’s highland region known as Podhale. In this “Love Letter” – the collection’s title – Butrym reinterprets the timeless shearling jacket by adding flower-shaped intarsia cut-outs, while the bold red rose print makes me think of Zofia Stryjeńska‘s vibrant depictions of women dressed in traditional highland folklore. Of course, nothing is too literal about this collection, and the knitted cream ensemble with a balaclava hoodie will work both on the slopes of Tatry and Megève. This season, the designer debuts luxe, commanding coats in red patent leather and pink, extra-fluffy jackets, as well as handcrafted details seen in the crochet dress and floral-appliqué mini. Feminine, edgy, distinctly cool and full of bling, Butrym’s eveningwear pieces are unlike anything else. Find them alongside her all-time must-haves – from bustiers with rounded cups to 3D rosettes, and a gray cashmere update to her best-selling long, boxy coat.