Františka Blažková

Based in Skopje, North Macedonia, the Ludus brand is recognisable by monochrome swaths of draped fabric with occasional subtle gradients and straightforward, crisp silhouettes inspired by timeless tailoring. SWARM MAG sat down with the brand's founder Dragan Hristov to chat agender fashion, unapologetical approach to design, nurturing inspiration, and Slavic textile crafts.

Music journalism is a sight rarely seen at SWARM Mag but some occasions are just too good not to share and recommend. Especially such a project as the INOTA Festival, which took place at the beginning of September this year. Enjoy a stream of observations from the very first year of Hungary's most ambitious audiovisual event.

"Hĕracha" means "a girl" in Chuvash language. Isenkkel and Vella Akhtimer founded the art group and fashion brand HӖRACHA to explore the possibilities of contemporary art entangled with fashion design. In an interview with the artists below, get a primer on Chuvash folklore, traditions and fairy tales that are deconstructed and reinterpreted to find points of contact with the universal human experience.

“The creation has the soul of the creator.” Juhee Park, a young knitwear designer currently residing and working in France, introduced us to her layered amorphous sprawling creatures that seem like they stepped out of her personal glamorous mythology.

“Always a combination of a material and a problem.” Via a captivating interview, Natalia Kopytko invites us to explore her world of childhood archeology, social exclusion and forgotten stories, whether manifested through ceramic sculptures reminiscent of knotted seaweed or installations of stuffed textile organic shapes spilling over into space.

Especially in the art world (but applicable universally), savouring, storing, sustaining and protecting your creative stimuli and inputs is just as paramount as letting them flow. Our fourth 2023 theme, ROOTS OF TASTE, seeks to find visual representations of our deepest, inherent drives to create that both anchor and activate us. The theme's animation was custom-made by Hélène L. Vaneukem.

Exhibition/performance Caliban and the Witches by Hélène Hulak, Lux Miranda and Johanna Rocard, which recently took place in Prague's Berlínskej model Gallery, disentangles the archetype of the witch from its negative patriarchal connotations of a cunning, evil and manipulative woman and turns it into a collective rebellious, utopian and hopeful vision. Curated by Céline Sabari Poizat.

“I know I'm making beautiful things but self-doubt can be a powerful confidence killer.” Enter the world of Zdeněk Vacek, a high-end jeweller, goldsmith and co-founder of the envelope-pushing Zorya brand. In the below interview, Zdeněk introduces his new eponymous label, reveals what is his “seed of peace” when creating, and how jewellery can defy entrenched social rituals.

Have you ever seen ceramic artworks that could stare into your soul? Well, now you have. The idiosyncratic, whimsical and vibrant vases and decorative sculptures by Italian ceramist and illustrator Jimmy D. Lanza are always ready for a face-off. Meet the artist whose creation sits on the living room coffee table of Chiara Ferragni.

“A duck quack sample? Yes.” Singular singer and songwriter Terra sat down with Swarm to talk her (and Kewu's) new album, fashion as big part of her artistic expression, how algorithmic “dopamine chase” forces artists into exaggerated and grotesque social media self-promotion, and more.

Is your life lacking softness, colours, fantastic and lush fairy-tale landscapes? Here's your antidote to gloom – enter the whimsically organic, plushy and summer-inspired creations by Anna Hieronymus. Enjoy the interview with the idiosyncratic fashion designer below.

Maisie Broome's fabrics and garments, created with the mesmerising technique of water transfer printing that is oh-so-satisfying to watch, arrest the imagination and make us feel like we're slowly sinking into a drippy, swirling, vibrant vortex. Enjoy an interview with the multidisciplinary artist and designer in which she shares her grounding processes, approaches to innovation or the importance of having the time to evolve.

The mesmerising videos of Dutch textile designer Joana Schneider cutting open sections of her rope tapestries, which then blossom into vibrant yarn flowers, gained a fair amount of virality across TikTok and Instagram. Besides these, Joana sculpts and exhibits richly coloured objects out of salvaged and recycled ropes using traditional techniques such as pluis netting and dolly knotting. Enjoy an interview with the inventive designer below.

Oh, to let go and succumb to the inner child for a moment. This summer, we have something delightful for you. Sit down in our whimsical lounge and let yourself be warmly engulfed by sillines and our new theme, SEED OF PEACE. The theme's opening article is accompanied by playful abstract animation by Zsófi Edőcs who also composed the background music. Let's sprout!

Kong Yue is one of the notable fashion designers who emerged from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. His vibrant and statuesque creations are produced with the help of highly sustainable practices, which the designer developed himself, without compromising the desired aesthetic.

“It’s not only music. It’s a world. It's a search for ambitious identities. It’s a creature community. It's an eco system. A queer mythology. It's more than a dream.” From the sheer and ruffled creations of Livia Rita, avant-pop singer, musician and performer, designer and self-proclaimed Alpine witch, emerge the cutest of specimens fostering social change and otherkin utopia.

“I will continue to question our existence and try to be appeased in a crazy and violent world.” Armenian-Iberian accessory designer Mara Tchouhabjian is the author of intricate and ornate headpieces, using fabric, beads, embroidery, wire or natural woven materials. Enjoy a down-to-the-point interview with the artist below.

Zexian Liu's playful, vibrant and mix-and-match outfits and shoewear rife with prints, patterns and textures invite both the wearer and the viewer to enter her world of contrasts, randomness and celebration of the simple beauty of just looking around us every day. We are delighted to bring you an interview with the fashion designer below.

“I find wastefulness nauseating.” Sophia Rotas, the mastermind behind Daemon Concept, a brand that seeks to “redefine severe luxury through fine jewellery”, afforded SWARM Mag a piece of her mind on her journey from maximalism to ascetic simplicity, Hungarian ballroom culture, not fearing perceived perfection or how AI-generated art can never reflect the “Zeitgeist”. Enjoy the captivating interview below.

Irina Dzhus' eponymous label, DZHUS, gained global notoriety thanks to transformable and mostly monochrome maximalist-minimalist creations that sometimes cocoon their wearer. In the interview, she reveals how her garments are created to be deeply versatile by design, the challenges of producing and delivering pieces from the war-stricken Ukraine, the importance of cruelty-free materials, and how fashion should stay socially responsive in the future.