5th EDITION 23-26.09.2021
DESIGNER
→Sabina Pop is a Romanian ready to wear design label. She has obtained a BA and a MA in Fashion from the University of Arts and Design of Cluj-Napoca, where she is currently based. At the moment she is enrolled in the PhD program of the same institution as she continues to be influenced by the connection between contemporary art and design.
Sketching my new stuff, exploring the art and nightlife scene of Berlin, Joon-ho’s movies, my energising cardio classes at Ride Berlin, a gym studio, with great people, insane workouts accompanied by The Ultimate Berghain Techno Playlist, -Irvin Yalom’s latest book, interesting people, long conversations. All of that make me extremely excited.
When it comes to my personal style, I was always obsessed with bold accessories, always buying earrings, oversize bags or sunglasses instead of clothing. I think that accessories are very personal and you can really use them to shape your style, so if accessories count I would probably be a Christopher Kane bag, a leather beret or a funky pair of J.W Anderson earrings.
I’m very interested in the correspondence between art and design.I think there’s an ongoing debate addressing this topic. There have been designers who identified themselves first and foremost as artists, such as Elsa Schiaparelli, who declared in her autobiography that she regarded dress design not as a profession, but an art. By contrast many prominent designers like Miuccia Prada or Marc Jacobs reject this position. The Metropolitan Museum Exhibition: Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, presented alongside short videos of simulated conversations between the two designers, focuses on how the women explore similar themes in their work through very different approaches. For me, studying the changing dynamics of art and fashion was always an interesting subject which I hope I’ll develop further as part of my PhD thesis.
Not many, but when it comes to fashion, production it’s still super cheap, comparing with other places in Europe, so that would be one of the greatest advantage.
I love everything by Eduardo Casanova, a young Spanish director, that I discovered last year at TIFF. I was impressed by the particular manner of building his characters and the ability to challenge the perceptions of beauty. The atmosphere of his movies reminded me of John Waters’ universe, whom he considered a spiritual father. Covered in pastels shades and kitsch elements , his short fashion films made for Vogue or brands like Bimba y Lola are at the same time disturbing but also trés chic.