Františka Blažková

“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.

The vibrant and mythos-like works of Spanish fashion and jewellery designer Cristina Milhero are sure to capture one's attention mercilessly, like a gluetrap. Read along to get familiar with her thoughts on the broader ethical codex designers should put into practice, keeping her eyes off the catwalks, corrupted minds and attention span, and more.

SWARM Mag introduces Ples Sobje by MUMM No. 4. Albeit only four years old, this annual “Vienna ballroom meets Berlin rave” evening, founded by the team behind the Czech fashion brand ODIVI, has already sunk its claws into the awareness of the local fashionista and art scene. This year, a select few attending designers, influencers and other personages donned masks and apparel by seven students of Prague's Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design whom we interviewed below.

Since 2016, London-based Gregory Kara has been crafting costumes and accessories for the likes of Grimes, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Nicky Minaj and many more. His stylistic focus could be best described as war-nymph aesthetic, and Kara's work predominantly includes facial accessories, oscillating between masks and headdresses, and also bodices or armour-like full-body pieces (and an occasional custom eyepatch for Madonna). Let us treat you to an exclusive interview with the artist below, including a truly uplifting parting message.

Originally from Slovakia, Mata Durikovic (MADbyMAD) is a fashion designer currently working with Chanel in Paris, as she enchanted the brand (and the rest of the world) with her use of self-produced edible bioplastic “fabrics”. In an interview with SWARM Mag, she draws aside the curtain on the playful flowery language of her garments, her childhood imaginative extraterrestrial inspiration, how the leftover starch water from boiling potatoes her late grandmother used to water plants with inspired her to invent her signature “Bioplastic Crystal Leather” and more.

“We are now entering a magical age where spells and spirits are becoming a reality.” Dubbed “the brand for the Metaverse”, the duo of creators behind PET LIGER, Constantinos Panayiotou and Calibrate, crafts and exhibits 3D art and virtual footwear. With inspiration ranging from 90's manga illustrations to UK music scene's grime and garage, they partner with brands such as Gucci and pave the way for digital haute couture.

Elmo Mistiaen, the founder and designer of the Brussels-based brand aidesign.png, transforms outerwear into biomorphic outdoor fashion by using AI-generated concepts that invoke otherworldly puffy designs, drawing (predominantly) on the insect world. SWARM Mag interviewed the artist on his practices.

Due to the recent emergence of a certain popular TV series, many people acquired new fear – mycelium inoculating and spreading through our soft flesh. Martina Kocianova is a Slovak jewellery designer and contemporary artist/maker crafting fairy-tale pieces that are designed as extensions of the body. But don't worry, these 'shrooms are friendly.

“I would really like to see a society where emotional value concurred economic value.” Swedish fashion designer Miranda Borg Blomquist kindly let us in on the building and creative processes behind her wearable sculptural accessory pieces in a little chat with SWARM Mag.

“We are in the middle of our evolutionary process, just as the toads or the squids. Our shape is temporary.” Matteo Gatti is an Italian artist with focus on unsettling objects and drawings teeming with futuristic and (yet) non-existent lifeforms. Indulge in the visuals and interview with Matteo below.

If 'utopia' is the promise of four-day workweek for some thanks to even more intelligent automatisation of labour, why not let AI do the heavy creative lifting? Welcome to the opening article of our inaugural 2023 theme, TOWARDS TERRA. To match the Midjourney-generated illustrations accompanying the article, we've interviewed the talk-of-the-town app ChatGPT regarding its “opinions” on the future of various artforms

Sessions always involve a lot of laughter. I mean, it's ridiculous what I ask people to do.” DLLCOPE, a self-described “gatherer of bodies, brains, skin, and paint to make images and sounds”, is a Canadian-based artist creating raw diorama-inspired compositions of bodies, paint, and DIY props.

As Jack Handey famously wrote in his book Deep Thoughts: “One thing vampire children are taught is, never run with a wooden stake.” But jokes aside, our editorial for the final 2022 theme, FULL OF DESIRE, is here. We searched far and deep for the epitome of passion, quintessence of insatiable hunger, and undying lust. And who embodies everlasting, immortal cravings better than vampires? Have fun browsing, our little children of the night.

Czech lingerie designer Karolína Černá's signature product are “crotchlessky”, or, as the name suggests, custom made-to-order lace crotchless underwear. Unsatisfied with the quality and the lack of non-vulgar and tasteful aesthetics in this particular niche lingerie field, Karolína set out to change the game.

Céline Marie, a German designer with French roots, set out on her artistic journey with one major goal – to empower and embolden. Her idiosyncratic, intricate, and dreamy lingerie brand, HERVÉ, is dedicated to perfection and expressed by intimate detail. In the interview below, Marie offers an insight into the brand's backstory, passion, and motivation.

The dreamy, fantasy-adjacent creations of French fashion designer Valeriane Venance invite the viewer into the parallel world of sage matriarchs, women often shunned throughout history. In an interview for SWARM Mag, Valeriane outlines what does “indépendantes de coeur” translate into for her, her inspiration journey, and how does one “sculpt a garment to perfectly marry someone's needs and desires.”