The Window Gallery of Česká spořitelna: Prague Spring

(jiří macek) The seven display windows of The Window Gallery of Česká spořitelna on Melantrichova street in Prague present, in their original installations, seven young designers who rank among the Czech Republic’s most promising fashion designers - even though many of them still study or have recently graduated from fashion design institutions.

The exhibition draws its inspiration from the international music festival Prague Spring, which represents the paramount seasonal event that forces us to make changes in our wardrobes every spring. Thus, one can see artistic creations, evening dresses, and ordinary jeans in the display windows. Walking from the Old Town Square, one gradually sees the work of Jana Kuťková, Jana Rollová, Zdeňka Imreczeová, Mirka Talavašková, Chatty, 333 fashion studio, and Zuzana Sedmidubská.

Jana Kuťková, a fifth-year AAAD student of Josef Ťapťuch’s studio, presents a sample of her academy collection that fascinated us last year. Its plissé, nostalgia, and gentle colors really took our breath away. “The collection was inspired by the 1920s, different colors, and the silhouette. As for its technological treatment, however, I tried to innovate the so-called “louvre” system when a person is able to change the colors of his or her clothes by simple manipulation,” explains Kuťková, who would like to establish her own brand one day.

The second display window shows the work of Jana Rollová, who studied at the AAAD in Prague and at the prestigious IFM in Paris for her post-graduate work. She currently works as a designer in the studio of Vincent du Sartel – Edeline design. She based her vision of spring on a single dress and a ghostly light installation. “The installation links several works. It includes the Model from the Body-home collection with which I graduated from the Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design at the AAAD. I decided to add the dress with an older object - a jeweled collar. The play of light and shadows endows the installation with another level, the exhibition is linked with its immediate vicinity, and emphasizes the transparency of materials with which I work,” says Rollová, while the sun confirms her words in the Window Gallery.

Zdeňka Imreczeová, who is working on her diploma project in the Studio of Fashion Art at the AAAD in Prague, presents a selection from her Origami, Dead Coat, and Primavera collection. One can see the finished clothes, even though she says: “My work represents a play with form, space, and the environment. The collections are created in the process of searching and experimenting.”

Mirka Talavašková, who currently has a scholarship in Paris, presents her Metro Quadrato, with which she won the 2008 Top Styl Designer Award at the Styl a Kabo fair. “I decided to present my work by means of this collection, even though it is one year old. However, it depicts the characteristics of my work the best,” explains Talavašková. “The collection is based on a very simple principle. The main protagonist is a regular geometrical shape – a square. The square of fabric determines the appearance and character of the individual models. The square meter of fabric is sewn in, sewn on, bent, folded, pleated, deformed, and then falls. I further attach this play with a piece of fabric on shirts. They are the favorite pieces of our wardrobes. The dimension of the square gradually changes and adjusts to the body of the person - or only a part of it is preserved,” she states. The installation presents this process with an unfolded part and the final piece.

The most well-known (and probably the busiest) designers from the septet is the designer duo of Chatty, which took fourth place in the Czech Grand Design Awards this year, even though they design streetwear (i.e. leisure time clothes, not haute couture). Chatty consists of two great designers: Radka Sirková and Anička Tušková. Radka Sirková graduated from the AAAD in Prague last year with the truly remarkable Fragment Category collection. Anička Tušková works as a designer in pietro filipi. The Prague Spring exhibition shows fragments and quotations from the collection presented at last year’s Designblok Fashion Week, in which Zdeňka Imreczeová, 333 fashion studio, and Zuzana Sedmidubská also participated.

333 fashion studio was founded at Tomas Bata University in Zlín. The Window Gallery presents the work of Marie Štorková and Veronika Hladišková. Their installation plays with white colors and lines and presents their recent work, including the latest pieces with which Marie Štorková is graduating this year in Zlín.

Zuzana Sedmidubská, presenting her Alhambra collection which she also presented at Designblok last year, is an AAAD graduate and winner of the Top Styl Designer Award from the Styl a Kabo fair (much like Mirka Talavašková). The display window that starts or closes the exhibition, depending on the direction one approaches the Window Gallery of Česká spořitelna, shows a sample of her topical Liquid collection. “The collection is inspired by the atmosphere of a rainstorm. The main motif of this collection consists of rings on a water surface that were created by raindrops,” explains Sedmidubská. She continues, “I like to insert motives from my travels and nature into my work. The result is a piece of clothing searching for new form, playing with the body’s morphology. It is often asymmetrical, arranged, and created from an unconventional cut.”

Apart from fashion, the Prague Spring exhibition in the Window Gallery of Česká spořitelna draws attention to two important international festivals that the oldest Czech bank has supported for many years: The Prague Spring International Music Festival and Days of Design in Prague –Designblok. The fete of all classical music lovers, Prague Spring (www.festival.cz) takes place from May 12th - June 3rd. The biggest international exhibition of design in the Czech Republic, Designblok (www.designblok.cz) will take place from October 5-11. Its integral part will be the Designblok Fashion Week.

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