Rafaela Pestritu

Œ: As a designer, you’ve already been awarded for an eminent work ethic. What else sets you apart from the rest?

Rafaela: The story that I want to tell through my fashion is not about trends or fleeting moments but about values and things that last. I don’t want my potential customers to just buy a piece of clothing but to join a narrative. Everything that I do kinda revolves around the female body. The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than realizing how we truly are and what makes us so unique.

We are frequently portrayed as sex objects, partially nude, our body is offered to the public as a visual product to be devoured. Or another way we are portrayed is as empowered and successful women who must dress the part and be introduced to tailored suits and different outfits derived from masculine attires. The world has changed! We have more rights now, we no longer have to perform conventional roles but instead, society encourages us to adopt a masculine subjectivity while simultaneously telling us the best way to view and present our bodies is as indicated by manly understandings of female sexuality. It’s the woman’s duality that’s always present in my work and that creates a sort of utopian future where she can be this creature that emanates female energy. The woman that I have in mind when I design makes her own rules. She is childish and mature, sexy yet modest, laud, unapologetic, ridiculous, a maximalist, a nonconformist who’s in charge of her own sexuality and choices.

Œ: What’s the backstory of your latest collection MY GRANNY IS A HACKER?

Rafaela: I created the collection during the 2020 pandemic and it was definitely challenging to have the shooting in my room with my friends. But it also gave me another perspective and forced me to redefine craftsmanship, pushing me to find different solutions that emphasise sustainability.

I’ve always wanted to express my gratitude towards my grandma not only because she raised me but growing up she was the only connection I really had with fashion. Before the pandemic, I had the chance to spend a whole month with her and I started to pay attention to the small details that make her so fascinating – like the fact that sometimes out of the blue, she likes to wear a Romanian traditional costume that her mother made for her when she was around my age. I really wanted to capture her youth and melancholy, translating them into my work. By gathering pictures of her and her parents, and combining them with different robotic elements from video games, I created a discrepancy between the traditional shapes and the clothes that I imagined women would wear in the future as described in my favourite book- I, Robot by Issac Asimov.

Rafaela: The fabrics that I used were reclaimed or end of rolls such as lame, satin, and vinyl. And since I have this weird fascination with combining technically challenging elements, I looked at natural and overly synthetic/shiny and matte fabrics. As well as recycling old devices like old phones, earplugs, etc. I upcycled some old embroideries and tapestries inherited from and made by my grandma – I tried to give them another purpose. The oldest tapestry that I’ve used is 100 years old.