A Little Room for Chaos: Julie Paskal
Julie Paskal achieves to turn the brutalist appeal of Soviet architecture into delicate fashion. Behind the graceful silhouettes, there is an incredible attention to details and advanced laser pattern- cutting techniques. Paskal, studied as an architect, which gave her the knowlegde of shapes, colors and textures. There is very little room for chaos in her creative process, which the designer defines mathematical and accurate, meticulous like science, as it requires physics skills to understand the movements of fabrics. Even though she has been showcasing her collections in Paris for the past two seasons, the idea behind the brand is “Made in Kiev” here is her journey for you to enjoy!
Tell us about your introduction to fashion design. How did studying architecture prepare you to undertake the alternative design world?
It’s a fate or maybe a coincidence. I was trained as an architect, but after facing with its highs and lows I escaped the university
to try myself in something new. That’s how I came up with fashion design. I love the feeling of independence in the creative process. Nonetheless, my designing approach is still very close to the architectural methods. Despite the fact that fashion is more spontaneous, I like this combination of technical and creative, which clothing design gives me.
How do you connect your architectural background to your designs for your brand?
During creating the collection I always rely on my experience. And architectural education gave me a notion of working with shapes, lines and proportions. Garment construction is still very mathematical, it requires exact measurements, projection etc. So I can say it steeled me and made me more restrained, because I am very romantic person and sometimes it is difficult to concentrate. And architecture became my inner limiter as well as permanent source of inspiration.
As a designer what is your aesthetic?
Sensitive design with a strong personality.
What is the core DNA behind your designs?
Utmost femininity, uncompromising beauty and laser-cutting as the main designing method and creative tool.
If you were to change the core elements or construction of your designs going forward, what would beauty look like to you then?
I would make it more technical, almost futuristic as if it’s the clothes from 2055 with implementing of high technologies and the most recent scientific developments to make the clothes biodegradable, for example.
What do you think of Ukrainian fashion industry, how is it different from the rest of the world?
The main difference is the creative landscape. I believe that fashion is also a reflection of social, cultural and sometimes political situation and Ukraine is very different from the rest of the world in that sense. Recent political events changed the the way of thinking and consciousness of people, especially my generation and we realized our origin, that’s why we would like to be proud of our work and invest as many powers in it as possible. I also think that recent post-soviet “madness” brought the attention of the world to our country and it helped a lot of designers to gain the success.
A process where its all about constantly creating; where do you find your inspiration?
Daily life – brushing, taking shower, laying in bed, on the beach, driving, cooking. I absorb audio-visual information, analyze it and then develop the collection concept. I consider the designer to be the filter.
Giving the climate of today’s world is there anything that scares you about your country?
Politics and its influence on the development of the country. I want to see Ukraine as a democratic country, where humanity is the biggest value.
In an interview ” Miuccia Prada said “Art, culture, intelligence and ideas should make life more interesting, more beautiful, more fun, they should be a pleasure, not a duty, they should be something that makes you more happy” Can you explain the feeling you have when your ideas become the reality?
For me the moment when the idea is born is very special and personal. Each collection is not only the collection of the clothes, it is a collection of my emotions, feelings and experiences. I as if open the casket, where all the treasures are hidden and then the collection becomes the way to feel this again.
What is ‘the cliche’ thing in fashion?
I don’t like when people outside the fashion think, that fashion is not serious and it’s only about the clothes
What guides you designing?
My inner feeling of beauty and harmonized proportions.
What is the cultural significance towards fashion?
Fashion is always a reflection of the culture, fashion is a part of culture and its creator in some sense. It was obvious in the past and I hope that one day we will back to the old-school fashion, when it was elitist and arty.
When did you realize that you have a in the business?
When I started to work with my sales agent Selene Collins and our amount of stockists tripled in a year. It was the time when we faced with many issues, including production, deliveries, etc. It required the whole restructure of our working process and I’m happy that we passed it with dignity.
