The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2019 - Issue 26

bite fashion Julia studied textile design at the Academy of Art and Design in Stuttgart, Germany and worked as a textile designer for several years before launching her epony- mous label in 2017. Before this she was Head of Print Design for renowned textile company Jakob Schlaepfer, creating unique prints for various fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Comme des Garçons, Calvin Klein and others.Three years ago, she was awarded the prestigious Swiss Design Prize in 2016 for her collection Adobe Indigo. It was during her studies that she spent time in Copen- hagen working with Shibori in 2011 and learned the Arashi Shibori technique. Earlier this year, she told Diva Magazine , “The problem of a textile designer is actually that you either provide an intermediate product or are really machine-dependent to create something. Hardly any textile technology can be realised in your own studio. But I like such immediate techniques, which work directly with the material and focus on the manual work process.” This technique as the designer explained involves folding the fabric, tying it around a pipe, and putting the whole thing into an oven, which once processed, is fixed into shape. She admitted that you can never predict the result. “There is always a moment of surprise,” she continued, “because the material evolves again. That’s why I design a lot more prints for each collection that I actually use because I can always see what a print is like after all the different pleating tests.” What inspired her to get into fashion design was “the way you can use materials and colours in [a] combo.” Although she enjoys fashion a lot, she doesn’t take it too seriously, adding that, “in the end, it’s a piece of clothes that you need to enjoy wearing because it’s beautiful.” Julia likes to create something beautiful rather than trendy and with her design signature being prints and pleats, she has achieved this with ease. Her first created design was a pleated dress and today, it takes a few hours to con- struct a piece. Using her creative process, which is the key component in her designs, Julia illustrates print stories directly onto raw fabrics before applying the Arashi Shibori technique. This is the starting point in all of her collections and the reason for their unique aesthetic. Her designs always have a sense of ease, comfort, and fun with thoughtful shapes and exquisite materials that playfully interact to create beautiful, wearable garments for today’s woman. The AW19 collection is said to take us back to the orig- inal fireplaces where textiles are crafted. “The earthly (primitive) ancient colours turn into toxic pigments while the flowers go up in smoke.” There are several interesting designs including the Tomte Top, a hand-pleated sleeveless shell top with a short funnel neck which is printed with colourful flowers all over its crepe surface. Another is the slightly sheer handmade plissé dress in green, yellow, and black digital print. The Violet Top, a knitted long sleeve top with a boat neck and tiny pleats all over; the pullover style features multi-coloured stripes while the matchingViolet Pants has