Who?  DZHUS

What?  BE SUSTAINABLE! Fashion Summit – a circular fashion focus

Where?  Ukrainian Fashion Week No Season 2021

Why designs by Irina Dzhus matter?

The metamorphosis of an object can be more things than one.  Take one clothing item and transform into many.  Designer Irina Dzhus transforms pieces that cannot be classified in a standard way: their modular structure allows to modify clothing in numerous ways, including its metamorphosis into accessories.  The concept of a few multipurpose items not only offers a minimal wardrobe with endless styling options, but reduces the problem of overconsumption while adding an advantage of individuality.  Investment in clothing in this way is a key component of a circular fashion ecosystem.

The materials used have distinct textures: shape-keeping pleating, cotton with a crumpled or laminated finish, silk imitating sackcloth or featuring an optical illusion of ‘petrol’ stains, ribbed knits. The textiles’ ethical origin is the determinant criterium for DZHUS’ material sourcing, as the brand transmits the values of cruelty-free fashion.

Irina Dzhus, familiar with the perfectionist urge to ‘clone oneself’, conveys a message for this collection that derives from a rhetorical dilemma:

Is a prototype self-sufficient without a copy, or are those undividable, like an object and its shadow, a form and a counter-form? Replicas and duplicates imitate the original, generating a train of phantomic projections, resembling a freeze of its dynamics. Eventually, such synthesis forms a polyphase existence with an unlimited kinetic potential.

Images: courtesy of Ukrainian Fashion Week

Catwalk makeup and hair are made by 96 Group @96group_agency
Cruelty-free footwear is provided by House Martin @housemartin_shoes

Sign Up for EDGExpo.com to receive feature articles by email of stories like these, an ‘intelligent look at fashion’.