[COLLECTION2]
This is the collection that emerged in the times of 2020 pandemics season and reflects my thoughts and inquiries about where is the system of fashion heading in these challenging times. To best summarize what I'm thinking about I must introduce to you a legendary character well known in Romanian stories and as far as I know in a larger Balcanic area: the cunning daughter of the destitute man. Neither clothed nor undressed, neither riding nor on foot, neither on the road nor beside the road she is supposed to appear before the king and introduce herself to the court. The most important aspect of the story is that she manages to comply with all the requests and in the end, she is wedded with the king's son. Isn't that exactly the questions we have today about fashion, how will it be after, how will people feel and look like... fragile or powerful, how will they act... responsible or still numb, will they truly embrace the Four R's: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Isn't that what is happening today when we all mix a little bit of everything and of everyone in everything we do and ... we do a lot of things...
This was also my second round of collecting fabric-cuts discarded by clothing factories and as the main characteristic, I started working with my own unwanted and irretrievable clothing items as the lockdown forced me to. That proved to be very interesting for my friends who started to offer their unwanted items boxes as they just had enough time for decluttering their wardrobes.
In terms of design, I had some pandemic lockdown guidelines that actually generated the final image. It was the preoccupation for the upper part of the body as seen in all Zoom and Instagram live meetings that translated into a minicollection of tops and a pair of tights showing underwear lines in exposed seams. Next, it was the question of fragility vs power that generated the combination of transparent and opaque materials while the most contrasting detail is to be found at the shoulder level. And then there were the CommonParts guidelines that wrapped it up, through the use of small fabric scraps (as parts) gathering to form a whole in a reconstructed fabric as people are gathering now for the greater good. The entire collection is made of very easy DIY items while seams and finishes are intentionally irregular as if executed by a beginner. We will make available online patterns and instructions for free in order to convince as many people as possible that upcycling is cool and they could reclaim their own unwanted and irretrievable items.
Common Parts is a sustainable fashion brand working with waste or discarded fabrics
