Jan Chodorowicz

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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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.