THE DESIGNER
Maria Raduta-Petrescu is an aspiring fashion designer based in Romania, who wants to encapsulate sustainable practices and principles within her work. Recent graduate of UAD, she took part in her first Erasmus exchange in her second year of university. The university in which she embraced this journey was ESADA, in Granada, Spain. There, she explored the whole creative process, starting with manual sketches, the final collection, from which two looks were chosen to be crafted. The process included making the patterns from scratch, the transformation of the patterns to fit her own unique ideas, choosing of the materials and the sewing process, which she was delighted to do it by herself, on industrial sewing machines, under the supervision of careful and dedicated teachers. Paired with written essays and other practical exercises, this new experience where she was able to sew her own designs and see how far she can trust herself with this process, gave her a strong confirmation that fashion design as a whole, including the practical part of pattern making and sewing, was exactly what she was eager to learn and delve into.
These practical skills made her capable to sew the 3 graduation looks at the end of the 3rd year, a process that was even more complex, questioning and executed at home. Right after graduation, in the summer of 2024, she participated with two of her designs at Feeric Fashion Week and Transilvania Fashion Festival. One of her dresses made from sustainable and deadstock pieces joined together appeared at television in Argentina, on Mag, Andrea Garmendia’s TV show for El Nueve (Channel 9) and in the Romanian press as well (articles, television).
Later that autumn, she helped with the organization of the Future Materials Conference in Budapest and attended her first international conference, which was focused on sustainable solutions for the present and future. In the winter, she participated in her first charitable art fair, for which she transformed various designs into stickers. This spring, she won the Continental Canvases Open Call and now two of her artworks are part of exhibitions in 4 international galleries for one month and a half: Golden Duck Gallery and SORS Gallery in Budapest, CITYgalleryVIENNA by publicartists in Vienna and Suites by NYLO in New York. Her artworks can be seen on Golden Duck Gallery website, where the mark she has left will last indefinitely.
THE BRAND
My brand is welcoming you to a world where the concept of sustainability is depicted through a multitude of pieces joined together. Each fragment symbolizes a bit of fabric that could be saved, recycled and reused.
The theme revolves around the simple, yet powerful concept that clothes could be created from already existing fabrics, without the need to overbuy new materials to manufacture them. Fragments from different second-hand items could be cut and pieced together to create a whole new garment that has unique features, is customized rather than mass-produced and encourages a zero-waste approach. Moreover, the creation of innovative garments facilitates the circular economy, viewing the fabrics already used as valuable resources that can be utilized moving forward.
The brand's designs are thought as a manifest, meant to encompass the vision of sustainable fashion through artistic expression.
THE COLLECTION
The collection consists of twelve dresses, inspired from Piet Mondrian’s art combined with the Russian Constructivism movement. The primary colours are inspired from Mondrian’s abstract art, but the squares that contain them evolve into more varied, asymmetrical geometrical structures, while the horizontal and vertical black lines become abrupt, dynamic diagonals. The diagonal black lines, paired with vivid colours such as green, purple, blue, yellow, red create optical illusions while playing with geometrical forms; the Russian Constructivism movement is present in the bold colors, the geometric shapes and diagonal black lines that create illusions and volume.
For the three dresses that have been brought to life, the geometric shapes are made of colorful felt that is sewn on top of the base, which is an A-line dress. The black bands unite the whole composition.
In this collection, each piece embodies a metaphor: a story is created from distinctive shapes that become a whole, symbolizing resilience and the power that comes from joining together for a good cause.