As part of the BA Fashion Design program at the Willem de Kooning Academy, I was tasked to do an internship at a company that aligns with my interests. I got the opportunity to do my internship at Julian Zigerli, a fashion brand based in Zürich, Switzerland. Julian Zigerli has been active since 2011 and has a broad selection of products from small leather goods and accessories to more elaborate ready-to-wear and handmade knitwear.
The collection that was presented during my time at Julian Zigerli was titled: ‘Rock, Paper, Scissorli’ and was in collaboration with artist Katja Schenker. The collection featured several printed foulards and garments with images of her work and customs prints designed in collaboration with Katja and Zigerli. At the show in April, some of the works that were used to inspire the collection would be shown on the runway alongside the clothes. At one point it was decided that Katja would open the show with a performance and I would be designing what she would wear during the performance. This kicked off a month-long project in which I collaborated closely with Katja Schenker to realise this design.
In my initial meeting with Katja, she indicated that she wanted to make a wearable version of the works that would be shown during the show. The works were pieces of fishnets on which she had poured a thin layer of concrete which she then carefully broke in specific places. For the show, she wanted to have a dress that would feature similar concrete panels which she could then break herself while walking through the space. Below is the design of the dress as a pattern/technical-drawing. I relayed this with the head of production at Julian Zigerli to talk about technical limitations and Julian for his approval.
I then proceeded to make the dress, have a fitting with Katja and made adjustments. The performance looked like this:
The Palm Bag is a part of an upcoming capsule collection that will be produced in collaboration with Be Souk, a production company based in Marrakech. The bag is based on a traditional woven basket-bag, common for the area. I was tasked with redesigning the bag in a way that distinctly fit the aesthetic of the brand, was low in production costs and did not alter the exterior appearance of the bag too much. Together with the production manager, we decided on adding some embroidery to the top of the cloth bag and the shoulder strap as well as some cross stitches for added strength. When all decisions on the bag were finalised I was tasked with making a tech-sheet to send to production.
