Janja Videc unveils her newest collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Ljubljana.
She does not just design. She builds. A community.
A community of modern witches that are on a search for lost authenticity.
A community of witches that are trying to emancipate from centuries long oppression.
Witches who are the granddaughters of the witches they were not able to burn.
Follow her journey and join the movement.
At Mercedes-Benz Fashion Ljubljana you have presented your newest collection. What was the main story of this one?
Just like the past ones, this collection is also inspired by me, my internal experience of a certain time period. This time around, I have tackled the question of authenticity - at first on my personal level and later as a general issue. I was thinking about what authenticity actually means to me and what I stand for. As our genuine culture I consider the traditions of our pagan, slavic and shamanistic ancestors, which were always very close to me. On the other hand I haven't felt any close connection with which, in a rather violent way, came after that. Only in the last time period, when this genuine tradition has slowly been coming to the surface, is when I have felt that I have roots. That I am a granddaughter of the witches.
In the past you have paid close attention to the choices of fabrics. Certificates of quality and fair trade materials have become a constant in your design. What were the used fabrics this time around?
It's true. Since the very beginning I have paid close attention to materials and I constantly search for new ways to discover materials, which would be both aesthetically pleasing as well as ethical and comfortable to wear. This may seem a bit of a paradox, but I don't completely trust the certificates. If I compare the material, which was produced in a family company in Belgium or Italy with the one, which was transported from India and has an ecological certificate - it's quite an issue to completely separate regarding in these particular situations what is the most ecological and ethical. The question is also, how ethical is a particular brand, which uses silk, even though it is ecological. These certainly aren't easy questions, but I personally believe that designers try to do whatever they can to design within their vision and take into account other factors as well. It's important to educate others without any judgement. In my new collection I mainly used flax, cotton and viscose. All natural and vegan materials, which were produced in European countries.
For the Witches collection we could say that it continued your previous vision. You started designing the famous witches' t-shirts, which you created together with Marko Klemen Sovree (Po dežju). Now it has evolved into an entire movement. Could you tell us more about the #witchessisterhood?
I created the new collection also in collaboration with Marko. He created amazing graphic designs, which I am really thankful for. I could say that he connected the entire collection with his creative ideas. Collection Witches lookbook was my graduate collection, which won an award in 2015 for best collection at Ljubljana Fashion Week. This collection opened many new doors for my career. It has given me a vision, which followed me throughout my creative process - the usage of natural materials, minimalism, archetypes and obviously witches! I strongly feel about those things and they are my constant source of inspiration. According to the response from the public, I believe that it is now finally the time that we, witches connect with the help of the virtual space. Because of this particular reason I have decided to create #witchessisterhood and I hope it will stick. You are all welcome to post on your social media, Let's connect!
What are your plans for the future? Do you have any projects in the making you would like to share with us?
Currently I am preparing basic t-shirts with designs from the new collection. Some pieces from the collection will definitely repeat so that I can send them to different concept stores, which I work with. I want to collaborate with shops from abroad, which takes quite a long time and financial costs - that is the main reason why I take things slowly. If I am completely honest, I want to take some break, to finally move in our almost-renewed apartment and to later get back to designing, filled with new energy. Of course I will stay open for new opportunities which will come in my way!
Another spring. Another edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Ljubljana. Designers from all around Slovenia and Europe have gathered once again to present their new collections to the Slovenian audience. How was the whole fashion week experience? Besides falling sick the first day of it all and pushing through with a fever, I still had a great time.
Interested? Read more below.
You may think that after attending the adored New York Fashion Week back in February I would be let down by #MBFWLJ - this may be true to some extent, because we clearly cannot compare to the so-called BIG 4 fashion weeks, I can still say that I was pleasantly surprised by a few fashion designers who knew how to prepare an entertaining fashion show. More of that in my top 5 collections which I listed below.
Now let's get onto the outfits.
OUTFIT #1 / MJ FROM THE WEST
You can never go wrong with an all-black outfit, right? This all-black ensamble was a pain to wear I'm not gonna lie, especially while having a fever on a sunny warm day, but I still loved the way everything turned out and honestly really enjoyed wearing it. I wore Topshop overalls paired with a Zara white shirt worn under a DKNY hoodie. I finished everything off with a Pajk hat, Zara sock boots, Asos bandana and Janja Videc glass earrings.
The second day of #mbfwlj started really sunny, but when it came to the first part of the runway shows it suddenly started raining really heavily. Because of that I decided to go for a "weather inspired look" and wear my hair very sleek and completely wet. As goes for the outfit I went with my trusted Zara wide leg trousers, M J M t-shirt, Almira Sadar red jacket, Brlan socks with strappy heels, a vintage straw bag and Mango red statement earrings.
And to end this post, here are 5 of my favourite collections from MBFWLJ.
Tjaša Zalar
The usage of folk music and traditional patterns both reinterpreted with modern twists supported the visual imagery of the entire collection. Her oversized jumpers, puffer jackets, shorts, etc. ranging in white, red, pink, green and blue were uniquely styled with trendy sneakers and socks to support the current streetstyle vision. Tjaša Zalar presented a fresh spin on the current athleisure trend with the help of her roots and tradition. Even though she is still a newcomer fashion designer (receiving the MBFWA only last year), she has already significantly paved her path onto Slovenian fashion scene. She has evoked amazing reactions from the crowd who cheered her onto the stage after her debut collection at the MBFWLJ. And we agree – Tjaša Zalar and her amazing talent is the one to watch in the next few years.
Janja Videc
Janja Videc retained her minimalistic and organic design approach, further elaborating her “witches” vision, that has already been implied in her previous collections. This time her usually strict forms dissolved into more flowy voluminous shapes, setting free an old pagan spirit that has been suppressed. Colours remained minimal, ranging from white to deep blue and black, unifying the newly formed sisterhood of witches. The graphic design on bags and straps is a result of her collaboration with Marko Klemen Sovree (Po dežju).
Marko Glavinić
Marko Glavinić’s menswear collection was infused with bold, shiny textures, which were carefully designed into structured jackets and styled with checked trousers, shorts or skirts. The styling was completed with sneakers and colourful socks with MG logo on it, which neatly tied together with the rest of the collection. Even though the colours in the collection ranged in the muted colour palette, Marko Glavinić used the pops of silver, green and yellow to bring out certain parts of his design. As a whole, the collection was a really fresh take on menswear.
Milica Vukadinović
Milica Vukadinović has already presented a few collections at the MBFWLJ and each year she is one of the designers everyone is talking about. And this year was no different. Milica retained her structured approach in oversized pockets (on both shirts and pants), but played with colourful mesh for a more relaxed feeling throughout – which has been a rather different approach in comparison to her previous presented collections. Colours were innovatively combined – red, green and burgundy; yellow, pink, blue and orange. Athleisure was a big trend at this edition of MBFWLJ; Milica also contributed to that with the styling of looks – with belt bags, hats, sneakers and socks.
Sari Valenci
Sari Valenci never disappoints in presenting an eccentric collection and this year hasn’t been any different. Her innovative collection was marked by a variety of textures, bold colour combinations and spot on streetstyle styling. She clearly knows who her client is and designs with this particular vision in mind. Oversized structures presented in bold patterns and colours were perfectly layered with cycling shorts, vests, tops and shirts. Just like Tjaša Zalar, she managed to support her collection with an amazing visual imagery behind and a song that suited the vibe of the clothing presented. Sari Valenci has all the needed knowledge of the current trends and she is clearly never at a loss for ideas – we cannot wait what she will bring out in the future.
Looking for that perfect transitional piece to carry you from the spring to summertime? Look no further, I got a great one for you.
Trench coat is a staple wardrobe piece for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE. When the nights get really cold in the summertime, when it's raining or when simply want to wear it on its own. You can dress it up or dress it down - for meetings, school or shopping. In my opinion you can never go wrong with a nice trench coat.
Yes, the obvious choice may be Burberry when it comes to trench coats, but the highstreet as well as other brands have brought out so many variations of this staple coat (as one of the main trends of S/S 2018) that I simply wouldn't want to limit myself to just one brand. There are so many options out there, you just have to find the one that suits your style best. This one is from Kenzo and it's the lightest coat I've ever worn. I also prefer to wear my trench coats belted so that my shape doesn't get lost under all that material.
Casual streetwear.
Because I adore absolutely streetstyle, I decided to style it a bit casual with a pair of lightwash vintage jeans, a simple white tee from H&M, Adidas black trainers and finished everything off with a vintage straw bag and small (frame) sunglasses.
To je majica, ki pove čisto vse v eni samcati enostavni frazi. Čeprav se vam zdi fraza provokativna, pa je resnična reakcija na številne dogodke, ki se nam pojavljajo v vsakodnevnem življenju. In ta fraza pride še kako prav. Mi ne verjamete? Preberite dalje ...
Naj vam nakažem situacije:
1. Ko se folk ne pomakne do konca avtobusa. Sej vsi radi stojimo spredi ane.
2. Ko spet delaš zastonj in dobro referenco. Umetniki brez referenc sigurno ne bomo preživeli.
3. Ko se folk vstopi v trgovino 5 minut pred zaprtjem in se odloči tam ostati dlje kot ponavadi. Saj vsi radi podaljšamo svoj delovni čas.
4. Ko te avto zalije s plundro na avtobusni postaji.
5. Ko se ljudje pritožujejo nad cenami v trgovini. Kot da sem jih sama postavila.
6. Ko folk počasi hodi po sredini pločnika.
7. Ko je vsak obrtnik več vreden. Ker jaz samo na hitro povem, kdo bo imel kaj oblečen. Pa še tole boš na hitr namazala. Sej ni težko. Zastonj, ane?
8. Jaz sem stilistka. Aja dobr, kaj pa drugač delaš?
9. Ko je zunaj 30 stopinj in ima avtobus obvoz. In klima ne dela. Spet.
10. Ko ti vsi pod fotke pišejo: you should smile more.
You get me? Zdej pa vsi po svojo majico na Klemnov blog! Več o projektu M J M.
The Fanny Pack is back. This time around we are labelling it as a belt or waist bag. It's a reinvented look of a 90s trend and so many people are jumping on board with this trend. My Instagram has been flooded with pictures of different versions of this bag - they really intrigued me to go have a look in Zara and as you may have figured out already, I couldn't resist buying one for myself.
At first I thought this will be a tricky bag to style, but when I searched through my closet, this lovely blue and white striped blazer from Zara jumped right out from the rest of the selection. I haven't worn it in quite a while because it was to cold to wear it on its own and while it's layered it just doesn't do justice to an outfit. Now it finally got the time to shine. Blazers and office-wear in general have been around since last fall and they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Matching blazers and pants, in different vibrant or pastel colours, has been another big trend at the moment which I might try out next.
This bag looks great belted around your waist because it optically cinches you in right at the waist - great trick if you're box-shaped like me. It can also be worn as a belt with jeans or more smart trousers. Another great way to style it is over a coat or an oversized jacket.
For the rest of the outfit I decided to keep it quite casual so I paired the bag with a simple white tee from H&M, mom lightwash Topshop jeans, Primark sunnies + hoop earrings and a pair of loafers from River Island.
I love how carefree this bag makes me feel. Even though this bag might be a trend for only a season or two, and we may look back at it laughing at our bad choices, I don't really care about all of that. Fashion should be fun and experimental and this bag definitely proves that.
What are your thoughts about this bag? Let me know in the comments below.
wearing:Zara white&blue striped blazer, Zara belt bag, H&M white t-shirt, Topshop mom jeans, Primark earrings and sunglasses, River Island loafers.
Denim jackets have been seen everywhere in the past few weeks, especially double denim (oversized denim jackets paired with straight leg jeans - skinny is out!).
This will be a big trend this spring and summer time, so get ready for it.
TREND ALERT / DENIM JACKET
I got this denim jacket from my last trip to London, after strolling around Carnaby Street. I've known about Monki only from Asos, so I was really surprised to see their entire (amazing) collection in a proper shop.
London has inspired me yet again in so many ways, from fashion, art, architecture, lifestyle, culture, etc. Their streetstyle is incomparable to anything else out there. Even New York.
I combined it with another big trend - tracksuits. Athleisure has taken over the fashion industry, thanks to brands like Off White, Gucci, Balenciaga, etc. Everyone is jumping on athleisure bandwagon, even me. When I saw this pair of velvet pants from Adidas I immediately knew I wasn't leaving the shop without them. I was obsessed with velvet in the winter and I am so excited to carry that trend over to the spring time as well. I finished the look with a simple white turtle neck top, because you can never go wrong with a basic white top.
I have also chosen my trusted Alexander McQueen bag decorated with a vintage scarf, Le Specs sunglasses, Adidas Stan Smith trainers and my apple headphones, because I never leave my house without them.
wearing: Monki denim jacket, Zara white turtle neck top, Adidas Velvet pants, Adidas Stan Smith Trainers, Apple headphones, Le Specs sunglasses.
That's it. Let me know your thoughts on this trend in the comments below.
