BOSSTVRVA TEIL 2

Amsterdam Fashion Week

Masculin féminin inversé: Encrypting the vision of a true BOSS LADY. Inspired by the Sworn Virgins of Albania (burrnesha or virgjnesha) – women who assume the life and rights of a man, vowing not to marry or have children – I recalled cross-dressing with my sister as teenagers, wearing the ‘Boss’ suits our Macedonian father wore in the nineties.

Concept

Thrilled by my concept of ‘power dressing inversé’: The special attention to interface work- the closest layer to the body- allows me to incorporate interiors constructions that sensually stimulate the body. On the surface, signature menswear pieces. But underneath they show an intimate celebration of individual heritage and the erotic body. My designs are spectacular objects in their own right. Rough, raw, embellished layers. Traditional techniques utilized as stimulating decoration. Personal trinkets worn close on the skin. Embroidered bra cups, ‘wet’ silicone painted details, beaded crotch linings.

Manipulatingthe coded value of dress.
Archetypal 80’s/90’s menswear fabrics from dead stock, juxtaposed with Lamé textiles sourced from an Albanian fabric market in Macedonia. Typical Eastern European domestic decoration: the balance act between chaos and precision. Modified garments, shapes and embellishments show references to classic menswear, workwear, military dress and Macedonian folkloric dress (Eleče vest).

‘Off’-silhouettes. Exaggerated lengths and proportions, shifted seams.
High-waisted trousers, broad shoulders. Fused elements create disruptions between hard and soft. Eccentric material combinations and distorted monogram prints.

Audacious incorporation of luxury materials. Luxurious exaggeration.
A body-warmer with exposed Guinea Fowl plume filling, embroidered Jacquard elbow patches on a nylon sweater.

FASHION WEEK FILM

Presentation Mercedes Benz Amsterdam Fashion Week

The show started with original family footage filmed in 1996 of my sister and me cross- dressed as male figures in my father’s Hugo Boss suits. My father was my male muse and is the inspirator for the name of my collection ‘BOSSTVRVA Teil II.’ By opening the show with him I created an environmental experience that connected my past with the present defining the atmosphere I wanted to create.

I chose to special cast additional male models beside my collection models dressing and styling these men of different ages and races in referential garments: archetypical 80s and 90s menswear; suits and leather jackets that accompany my collection models by walking beside or behind them on the catwalk.

For the presentation of my collection at Mercedes Benz Amsterdam Fashion Week the collection models and additional models appeared as a group. I wanted them to form a tribe and remain visible during the duration of the presentation as a symbolic decision and representation of family bonds, one where communication and friendship finds expression beyond the narratives of my collection.

My father emerged from the group and walked first, when he returned and joined the group the lights went to black out. As the lights came up the group revealed the next model to walk. this group dynamic repeated itself until the final look. Each time when a collection model and additional model finished their walk and turned around the group moved forwards to meet them, reforming the group before being swallowed by another blackout. When the lights came on different group members revealed themselves.

Whilst this was happening movies were being simultaneously projected, these movies were filmed to create a selfie-environmental perspective from the inside of the garments showing how my ‘power dressing inversé’ objects stimulate the erotic body.

At the finale my models pushed me to do a run’a’way walk. For me this was the perfect end- scene completing my story by telling the importance of friendship, relationship, love and family bonds.