Maurice Munteanu and Cristina Craciun from ELLE Romania have curated and designed a beautiful exhibition at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London - all this being part of the International Fashion Showcase of 2012 , organized by the British Council and the British Fashion Council.
The event marks the London 2012 Olympics and honours the Olympic values of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship. Countries like Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Carribbean, China, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Korean, Netherlands, Nigeria, Phillipines, Poland, Sierra Leone, United States and Uzbekistan have joined Romania and took part at this event. Exhibitions of the various designers from these countries can be found at the country's embassies or locations like Somerset House, Australia House, British Council or Stone Theatre Gallery.
Sunday, the 19th of February from all these countries, one will be winning the Emerging Talent Award 2012. A jury of people from the British Fashion Council, Victoria and Albert Museum, Design Museum, Somerset House, The Guardian and Royal College of Art will be deliberating which country has shown the best talent and most ground-breaking design of all. Let's hope it will be our very own amazing designers!
The Romanian project brought together Mihai Dan Zarug - twenty(2)too, Dinu Bodiciu (London-based Romanian designer), Mihaela Glavan, Irina Marinescu and Carmen Secareanu.
twenty(2)too captured my attention during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, where Mihai Dan Zarug (the designer) presented his collection for the first time this year in the Romanian Designers section. I loved his approach and cutting-edge design straight away and I was so happy to be able to take a look up close and personal at the garments now.
Dinu Bodiciu is a London-based Romanian designer, who graduated from London College of Fashion in 2011 , where he did an MA in Fashion Design and Technology. You can see his graduation catwalk show at http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/Dinu. Alongside Ingrid Vlasov his garments were chosen by Lady Gaga's personal stylists in public appearances. He has a unique and contemporary approach to fashion, strangely insightful. You can also purchase some of his famous masks online at http://www.notjustalabel.com/dinu_bodiciu.
Carmen Secareanu was the winner of the National Contest for Design Innovation in 2004 and of the Institut Francais' Pasarela Award in 2008. She has been active in the fashion industry since 2002 and is recognized for her avant-harde patterns, architectural structures and minimalist lines and colours. She finds her inspiration in contemporary European patterns but never leaves out the traditional Romanian costume, that she combines with high-tech materials. This is not Carmen's first encounter with London as she was also highly appreciated at the London festival of Architecture in 2010, with her project 'Windflowers' - more information on that at http://www.icr-london.co.uk/lfa2010.php
Irina Marinescu isn't a new-comer on the fashion stage either. She has also won awards like Oribe Fashion Contest in Japan and Pantene New Look Award for the most promising Romanian designer. She has a very strong connection to her garments and tries to show that in the way she presents her collections. Every piece of clothing has it's own story and personality and everything makes you want to discover more.
Mihaela Glavan - the last but not least - she is the genious behind all successful collections that go on the runway (shoes-wise) . As you might have read in my previous posts, she has collaborated with alot of Romanian designers over the past few years , some of who attended the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, but not only there, as she is already famous in Montreal, Kiev and Cyprus and is exporting her line of shoes in the U.S, Japan, Canada, Italy and Bulgaria. For more information and orders you can check her online website at www.sepala.ro
You can still have a look at the exhibition which is open until the 22nd of February at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London - 1 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8PH London, United Kingdom
