Karolina Zmarlak Deco Reverie by the Sea 2010
Zmarlak
"I've always gravitated toward clothes that allow me to express my style, not dictate it. How's that for luxury?"
KZ_K "Machine-a-Porter" Warm Cycle 26 · Modernist Multi-Functionality · Minimalist, Colorful, Technically Innovative · Layered, Textured, Illusions of Lightness · Le Corbusier · Villa Savoye · Unite d'Habitation · Always in the Service of Our Clients · Nous Esperons Que Vous Aimerez
Last night I attended my friend Karolina Zmarlak's fantastic fashion presentation, Deco Reverie by the Sea, in an ultra edgy venue behind the original CBGB's. Each piece in her collection remains consistent to her visual identity and unique style. Original, elegant, edgy, with touches of deco and hints of rock and roll. Her trouser pant is a famously known and well kept secret by many New York fashion editors. And after this successful second presentation, you too can explore this brand for yourself. Oh, and by the way, even though the wait was long, the surprise Guns N' Roses performance held at the Varvatos store upstairs right after the show was well worth waiting for.
Born in Poland, Zmarlak immigrated to Chicago in 1992. She was inspired to become a clothing designer after taking her first sewing class in high school — where she made her dance team's uniforms and prom dresses. After a year of business school, she transferred to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, graduating in 2007 with a specialization in tailoring. She interned at Theory and Carolina Herrera before launching her own practice.
Zmarlak's practice is built around the concept of convertibility: garments that can be worn in multiple ways, reversed, tied differently, layered unexpectedly. A black dress that becomes blue when turned inside out. A jacket that can be wrapped in a multitude of ways. "Convertibility is about personalization, and I think that's very important to the modern client." Produced entirely in Manhattan's Garment District, her clothes are designed to become living sculptures.
Styles Award winner for eveningwear while still a student. Diane von Furstenberg on the panel.
Fluid Foundations collection. 10 looks. Convertible, reversible, recession-proof. Stocked at Takashimaya and Eva.
Collection picked up by Saks, placing her alongside Stella McCartney, Donna Karan, and Calvin Klein on the floor.
One of the first-ever recipients of the NYC Fashion Production Fund. All production in the Garment District.
Can you tell us about your background in fashion, and when you decided to pursue it?
I was lucky enough to have a high school in Chicago where there was the ability to take on creative courses. I was interested in photography, and back in those days we still had a darkroom, so I got to work hands-on. I think that is what stimulated me towards fashion. After doing that for a couple of years, one of the other courses was a fashion-sewing course. I got to make my dance team's uniforms and prom dresses, so it really was developing this interest and love for working with fabrics and style lines. I still ended up going to my first year of business school, and then I realized I can do this while I go to a creative design school. That is why I transferred to FIT.
"Sexiness is a fun form of power. As a woman designing for women, I would like my clients to express their own sensuality."
How did you transition from made-to-measure into ready-to-wear?
After graduating in 2007, I really started working with individual clients out of my studio apartment in Nolita, taking on a few friends who became my ambassadors. I was doing made-to-measure eveningwear: cocktail dresses and things like that. It was seeing how to directly work with women, their personalized needs, really working to individualize pieces for them. It was an organic thing that happened for two years. Each individual look or dress was like going through the process of creating a collection, but specific for that client, for that piece.
How did you find your first customers?
When you are doing something so personal and specific, what happens is a lot of word of mouth spreads. If you do a good job with one woman, she wants to share that and have her girlfriends have the same experience. My partner Jesse Keyes and I were thinking: how do we make this into a larger business? How can we create this same vision of being able to work in a specific, personal way with women, where there is this idea of closeness with your customer? So when Karolina Zmarlak was launched, it started with that concept. We started with 10 looks where every piece was really thought about. They were convertible and versatile, and some of the pieces were reversible. At that time, in 2009, it was also the recession, so our idea was being supported by women who really appreciated the value of clothing.
Le Corbusier's revolutionary creative thinking preceded the power plays of Andy Warhol and David Bowie: to reinvent yourself and your products, to radicalize a present to the possibilities of a future. KZ_K have explored the mind, means and methods of Corbu to propel their clothing design. Minimalist, colorful, technically innovative. Layered, textured, illusions of lightness. Sculptural, convertible. Always in the service of the client, for your ongoing use and personalization.
