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Ivana Omazić launches her own label IO Ivana Omazić
Croatian designer Ivana Omazić has debuted in women's ready-to-wear with her own label, IO Ivana Omazić, putting a strong emphasis on product quality. Omazić is well-versed in the corporate practices of major fashion labels, after a successful career that took her from Prada to Jil Sander, via Céline, where she was creative director, and likewise at Martin Margiela, before John Galliano's arrival.
"I wanted to experience the feel of tailoring again full-time, and concentrate on creating clothes with a ‘slow fashion’ approach," she told Fashion Network. This week, the forty-year old designer will showcase her label for the first time in Paris at the MC2 showroom, the worldwide distributor for IO Ivana Omazić. The collection's style is contemporary and minimalist, each item having a distinctive character.
The Autumn/Winter 2017-18 collection builds on the work presented in Milan last season, relying heavily on craftsmanship and research. An approach which has already attracted some 75 buyers worldwide, from Asia to Europe: IO Ivana Omazić is available at 10 multibrand stores in Japan and has no less than forty clients in Italy, among them Excelsior in Milan and Penelope in Brescia, and three in France.
The clothes are impeccably cut, and are manufactured with fine fabrics from Italy and Portugal. They have a "painstakingly feminine" feel about them, and each of them stands out for a special feature or compelling detail.
For example, vertical stripes and geometric colour blocks add character to a white woollen overcoat with rounded lines; a large square in 23-carat gold leaf is applied on a black cotton tee-shirt; multi-coloured strings, plaited into the knitting, inlay sweaters with geometric designs, and colourful sequins are hand-stitched on garments.
Naïf art designs by illustrators Dominik Vukovic, Mladen Udovcic and Dina Milovcic are printed on clothes using silk-screen or tampography techniques, while others are hand-embroidered and painted over.
"We experiment a lot. All the prototypes are created in my laboratory in Zagreb [Croatia]," said the designer, who settled back in her native town and established her company there, with a staff of 15-20. The business is self-financed, with help from Ivana Omazić's family: her sister looks after branding and communications, her mother after accounting, her brother after management.
The clothes are manufactured in Croatia, near Zagreb, except for some knitwear items which are hand-crafted by a group of women from Sarajevo, Bosnia, using traditional techniques. The cable-knit cardigans, in a variety of weights and stitching, sell for around €900, while the hand-painted tee-shirts retail for €150.
"Each item is unique, down to the occasional small imperfection, which makes it more valuable," said Ivana Omazić smiling.
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