fashion

Despite all our modern sensibilities, our minds still play tricks on us when it comes to the darkness. Shapes begin to swirl and half-materialize, uncanny threats breathe down our necks from the murkiness – and we feel silly after we flip the light switch. But what if the entities are really there? This editorial was sparked by our fascination with Lukáš Spilka's Full Moon collection and was brought to life via the talent of photography duo Shotby.us.

“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.

“I build with the knowledge that art can be used as a protopian influence to help the advancement of technology and design.” Amanda R. Teske, or Tesxe for the art world, is a digital designer with passion for product design, AI, wellness biohacking, biomimetic research and tech optimism towards the future. She might also have created a new aesthetic genre of elven mecha-futurism. A truly captivating in-depth and interview with the artist continues below.

“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.

After years of black-and-white illustrations, Alfred Pietroni found his medium in 3D sculpture. His digital fashion collections now span dozens of looks that hark back to Y2K video game aesthetics while envisioning the future of dystopian fashion. Today, Alfred goes into his process and discusses Exile, his fashion brand in the making.

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.

In materializing her unique vision, Aoi Kotsuhiroi uses traditional Japanese sap lacquering methods as “layer after layer the color stratifies and intensifies, taking time, a time that registers to reveal infinite depths.” Answering in poetry and divulging only a glimpse of her creative process, the Paris-based contemporary artist’s feature transports us to an erotic sublimity.

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.”

“Many are happy to open up, more than you’d expect, when treated with dignity.” Treat yourself to an interview with fashion designer Klara Marie Bliss, living and working between Prague and Antwerp, on choosing to pursue corsetry, approaching working with bodies, and the archetypes of feminine lingerie.

“I like to present [the collection] as a retrospective of the belongings of a woman who doesn’t exist.” Fashion designer Gabrielle Huguenot, based in Switzerland, talked to SWARM Mag about her designing processes, childhood influences, and, first and foremost, the mysterious Snake Woman, Gabrielle's long-time imaginary Femme Fatale, for whom she created the newest Artificial Flowers Also Need Water collection.