5 Fashion Designers to Know Now from Prague Fashion Week
There are a lot of new and interesting things happening in Prague right now and that’s partly thanks to a handful of fashion designers. At Prague Fashion Week, which was held in the city center last weekend, the local It girls were all spotted outside the shows wearing street wear-inspired, avant garde pieces from several Czech brands such as La Formela, Odivi, and Martina Spetlova. Here, a guide to five of buzziest brands from the city of one hundred spires.
La Formela Miroslava Kohutiarová, Katarina Kopková and Antonin Soukup have developed their brand, which launched in 2009, into a staple of Prague’s fashion set. It’s easy to understand why – the clothes have an experimental, underground feeling to them, but are still feminine. “La Formela aims particularly at customers in creative fields, who are not afraid of bold outfits and details and at the same time want to feel comfortable and authentic,” the trio explained.
Odivi Odivi has earned cult status amongst the city’s most stylish thanks to voluminous shapes, architectural silhouettes and an affordable price point. “We ourselves prefer to spend money on traveling or education, so we keep our prices reasonable,” explains Odivi designer Iva Burkertová. “It’s a streetwear and high fashion blend.”
Martina Spetlova Although Spetlova attended school in Prague, she was studying chemistry, not fashion. That changed some time later when she enrolled in London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins. Today, she is perhaps the most well-known of the designers showing at Mercedes-Benz Prague Fashion Week, as her pieces are stocked at Dover Street Markets across the globe. Spetlova believes her collection is for “a self-confident woman who can appreciate high quality.” The quality is there indeed. After seeing a black and teal leather woven a-line skirt at the Bibloo Pop-Up Shop across from the fashion week’s shows, it was clear why British department store Selfridges decided to snap up the brand to stock for the first time in its store this fall.
Chatty Founded in 2005 by Anna Tušková and Radka Sirková, Chatty has become known for their take on elevated streetwear, and of course, their custom denim pieces. “Our collection’s signature feature is denim, however, the season portfolio includes s much wider range of clothes now,” the duo explains. After stints showing at fashion weeks in Berlin and Amsterdam, Chatty now calls Mercedes-Benz Prague Fashion Week home, but they also presented their collection at a showroom in Paris last year – a huge step for a brand on the rise.
Miro Sabo The Slovak designer graduated from UMPRUM, the esteemed arts school in Prague, and then went on to intern with Raf Simons. In 2012, Sabo launched his eponymous collection for which he scooped up a designer of the year award. The designer often is inspired by works of art or collaborates with artists on specific pieces in his collections. “My customers are mostly women who are in frequent contact with design and art – be it professionally or our of interest,” he explains. “Things connected to lifestyle and design represent an important aspect for me too and I try to incorporate them in my work.”
