On this episode Jessica is chatting to Lara Klawikowski. She is a South African fashion designer and illustrator of Polish and Russian heritage, based in Cape Town. She launched her eponymous label in 2010 with a focus on avant-garde design, after graduating from CTCFD and winning the SACTWU Condom Dress Design Award. During her studies, she won the prestigious Durban July Young Designer Award, was a top 5 graduate at the CTFC Graduate Shows, runner-up in the FAD Awards, and completed an introductory course in shoe making and shoe design. She showcased her first ready-to-wear collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town in 2013 and was also a semi-finalist in the SAFW Renault New Talent competition.

Lara Klawikowski designs wearable art – bespoke womenswear handcrafted at her studio. Her designs are intriguingly tactile and artisanal, with a distinctive artistry, femininity, edge, and other-worldly beauty. She employs unpredictable pattern-cutting and garment construction, organic draping and proportions. Her love for unusual detail, texture and innovative use of fabric has led to constant experimentation with recycled, upcycled and re-fabricated materials.

Lara Klawikowski won the Innovative Design and Materials Award, as well as the coveted Changemaker Award at the TWYG x Country Road Sustainable Fashion Awards 2020.

You can find Lara on

http://www.laraklawikowski.com