“Very often I work with materials and techniques that are not necessarily fashion related in the first place and see how I can implement new ways of making clothes. ”
It all started when…
SOULDEGA: When did it hit you that you wanted to be a Fashion Designer?
KASIA: I think it was a process. I was always drawn to making clothing and I remember I loved to wrap my younger sister in imaginary gowns made out of blankets and bed sheets when I was a little girl. Still, I was not immediately convinced if this is what I should do until I studied architecture and started to translate all I learned there into clothing. Later on I worked in retail design and created shop concepts for fashion brands. That’s when I developed a different understanding for fashion and I ultimately noticed and decided that I actually want to develop the product itself - not just the surrounding.
SOULDEGA: Who is the Kasia Kucharska woman?
KASIA: The woman wearing my clothes is self-confident but also playful and experimental. She likes to have fun and doesnt take herself too serious.
SOULDEGA: What does your creative process look like leading up to a New Collection?
KASIA: At the beginning it’s a lot of reading and talking. Later I switch to imagery: I love to research in history books and look at old paintings but also car advertisements and power tools. It all ends up on a visual moodboard that I always have to have in front of me. I quickly move to material development and really take my time with that. I think thats the part I enjoy most! The silhouettes very often evolve from the material itself.
SOULDEGA: We noticed your unique and abstract approach with lace, what inspired this design direction?
KASIA: I like to take old manufacturing techniques and traditional craft as a starting point to translate them into the here and now. Very often I work with materials and techniques that are not necessarily fashion related in the first place and see how I can implement new ways of making clothes. Lace has such a beautiful long history. The manufacturing techniques to produce lace were one of the most important textile innovations of our modern age - innovations that were mainly developed by women who produced it at home by hand. I wanted to track this evolution and find new ways of creating lace by hand in a modern way.
SOULDEGA: Do you feel the Fashion Industry is oversaturated? If so, how do you set yourself apart and what are the challenges and rewards behind that?
KASIA: It’s no news that there’s too much pollution caused by this industry, too much unethical production going on. It is for sure oversaturated (when it comes to the amount of produced goods) and a crisis like this one happening at the moment, shows it even more. Despite all the struggle now, I really think this could be a good moment for the industry to reset and improve. I hope the system won’t be working as it used to. There is so much need for innovation in every possible way! Everyone is forced to rethink own consumerism too, thats a good thing. I produce all the pieces on request, so there is no overproduction. The lace pieces are handmade in my studio by me and my team in Berlin - right now only by me, so thats a challenge.
SOULDEGA: If you were given the opportunity to collaborate with any artist in the world, dead or alive. Who would it be and why?
KASIA: I would like to see more interdisciplinary collaborations. I think right now I’d be into a collaboration with Dieter Rams for example. I’d be curious to see how he would implement his principles for good design today.
SOULDEGA: Have you found a new creative/healing ritual during these times of confinement? If so, how has this been important to you?
KASIA: Yes, I have: It’s regular working hours. I usually get very absorbed by my work. I’m constantly in the studio, late nights, weekends, pushing myself. I am now learning to take breaks and enjoy time off. I’m on the phone and Facetime with my family and friends all the time and actually feel even more connected to them now although we are physically apart.
