About Jagoda.

Inspiration

I draw inspiration from everything around me. Above all I mean nature — trees, plants, water — but also murals and the plain walls I pass on the street. My closest people are an enormous inspiration too: family, friends, even strangers I cross paths with day to day. I often capture these moments in photographs so I can return to them later and find ideas for my projects.

Beyond designing and drawing, I also sew clothes, and sometimes I make graphic prints for shirts. Very often I use my own paintings as the base for new patterns and prints on garments. Apart from designing itself, I love leafing through books on the work of the world's designers and watching their shows — that too develops my imagination and creativity.

My style changed a great deal for most of my life. From my earliest years I wore many colours and patterns, but over time I began to move away from them. I came to appreciate minimalism more and more, and it became an important part of my life on many levels. These days I most often wear black, because I consider it the most beautiful colour. It is what makes me feel confident, calm, and ready to take on new challenges every day.

Process

My projects very often come to life spontaneously. Before I start, I usually already have a rough sense of the material and the direction I want to take it. I'm drawn to the process of deconstruction and giving form anew — cutting, dyeing, painting, and using spray all become part of building a garment's new story.

Strong emotions often accompany the making — sadness, anger, or disappointment that come from what I'm living through at the time. Paradoxically, it is exactly that energy that becomes my greatest driving force. Only toward the end of the process do I feel real satisfaction and the sense that a piece has been resolved in an authentic way.

It also brings me enormous joy to see people close to me wearing clothes I made from scratch. The sight of someone who feels good in one of my pieces is one of the most precious forms of fulfilment for me.

Style

I would describe it as minimalist, expressive, and effortless. It's an aesthetic that doesn't need loud forms to draw attention. It is dominated above all by dark, muted colours — black especially — which let the character of the silhouette and the construction itself come through.

Closest project

Though it may sound surprising, one of the projects closest to me is a very simple black top made from a viscose long-sleeve, or its short-sleeved variant. I've always valued minimalism, and it's in forms like these that I feel most myself.

I believe well-designed basics are the foundation of any outfit — they go with almost everything and don't call for overthinking the whole look. Simplicity is often the most timeless form of expression.

Designers

I draw my greatest inspiration from designers who redefined fashion through a strong aesthetic language and artistic courage. The ones especially close to me are: Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Lee Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler, Martin Margiela, and Ann Demeulemeester.

Their work inspires me both in terms of construction and in the emotions they manage to convey through a garment.

Who I design for

At the moment I design above all with women in mind, though I care that my work isn't bound by age or by any particular kind of audience. I'd like the clothes to reach people who are self-aware, ambitious, and brave.

I feel that many women still struggle with a lack of confidence and self-acceptance. Through fashion I want to remind them that no limits exist for them — that they can reach for everything they themselves consider important and worthwhile.