Film by: Ronaldas Buozis

Interview with a young fashion designer, Egle Cekanaviciute from lithuania. Her collection deals with the barrier between healthy and  » handicaped », the socially acceptable and its opposite. Through this collection, she tries to explain that orthopaedia and tailoring strive for the same thing: fitting the body into the right  » shape ».

Egle, what and where did you study?

I have just graduated from BA Fashion Design & Marketing at Central Saint Martins, in London. Before I did two years of Fashion in the Arts Academy in Vilnius.

Give us an example of one of your more unusual outfits?

My collection’s favourite – asymmetric sky-blue blazer skirt. I was working with the shape and details of a blazer and tried to create volume in my garments not by the usual – draping or gathering fabric, but by inserting geometrical, structured parts of the classic jacket to unusual places of a simple-shaped garment, such as a pencil skirt.

Location?

Born in Lithuania, lived in London while studying, and dreaming to work in Paris.

Era of birth?

Funky 80’s.
To be more precise – 1986.

Clinical corsets are an important part of your collection. How come you combine them with tailoring?

I noticed the connection between the two subjects when I saw many people around me wearing  orthopaedic corsets / braces, etc., that were supposed to “straighten”, make their bodies “more perfect”. I thought it is similar to tailoring, as it is also all about putting you into the “right” shape. We even say in Lithuania “a good tailor can straighten a hunchback”.

Explain how your collection is (as you described it) « bodymoulding ».

Bodymoulding is natural or artificial ways of altering the shape of one’s body. Orthopaedia and tailoring are two of the ways. As well as plastic surgery. The two main things that all these fields have in common is:

a) it’s dealing with human’s body, and
b) its reason is seeking for physical perfection, stereotyped by our society.

Knowing you used a lot of different materials, why did you choose to use them and where did you find them?

I was lucky to have been sponsored by a Lithuanian Orthopaedic company “Pirmas Zingsnis” (transl. “First Step”) – they have supplied me with all the original orthopaedic materials, such as mouldable plastic, leather, steel etc. and helped me make the corsets, leg braces, bags and shoes. It was pretty unusual for them to work with a fashion designer, and to make such pieces for healthy models to wear on catwalk, as they only tend to work with people who do need medical help. Some people in the company did not really understand the purpose of my collection, but they still believed that something good would come out of it. I am blessed I met them.

I also used wool, silk and jersey for my tailored and draped pieces.

And the model in your pictures looks half broken, half healthy, what are you trying to tell us?

All I’m trying to say is that injuries can happen to any of us at any time, so we shouldn’t treat orthopaedia as “scary”, unusual devices, as it is actually a very common issue. I have a few friends who had to wear a scoliosis corset (to straighten an “S” shaped back) in high school and other kids were making fun of them.
My model is perfectly healthy, but by having her wear a leg brace along with my other collection pieces in the photoshoot I wanted to show that it can be treated as a “cool”, fashionable accessory.

Necklaces and earrings are also part of your collection. Are you keen on jewellery design too?

Yes I believe jewellery is an important part of the outfit, it is a saturated expression of the mood and theme of the collection. It has to support the collection but not disturb it.
My jewellery was made of the magnesium ampoules, which also have a medical feel to it, but I wanted to show that it can be beautiful as an earring or necklace.

Are your orthopaedic leather wedges really orthopaedic??

Yes they are standard orthopaedic wedges, but usually they are worn by people with one shorter leg, which means they are worn by one  (with the other shoe being normal ). It looks quite unusual and people are embarrassed of it, so again, I wanted to break that stereotype and present it as beautiful and fashionable. In the end, they do look like those fashion wedges that are so “in” right now.

Very minimalist pieces can be found in your collection, like a simple t-shirt and vests. Are you more interested in the beauty of simplicity than the extravaganza of standout, bright pieces then?

I am interested in the combination of the both, as in my opinion, one supports another. I wanted my collection to look wearable, not only conceptual.

Inspiration behind the collection. Where did you get it?

Functionality and construction. And social problems. I get my inspiration from the streets, from surroundings – things and people around me. My family and friends have needed orthopaedic help. Not yet myself, though.

Could you name a few of your favourite designers

Maison Martin Margiela – for their conceptual collections, ability to make art of craft;
Ann Demeulemeester – for genius tailoring and draping, ability to wisely combine masculinity and femininity;
YSL – for the absolute elegance throughout all eras;
Hussein Chalayan – for an amazing ability to apply high technologies in his collections, and for the spectacular, conceptual fashion shows.
Alber Elbaz for Lanvin – for beautiful draping and quality
Jil Sander – for structure and wise simplicity
Grazina Cekanaviciene (my mother) – for the absolute knowledge of pattern cutting, technlology , passion for work and ability to apply her skills to create ANYTHING she wants. She can make every woman look beautiful.

In particular, one you’d like to work with, and why?

Maison Martin Margiela, because I love the style and believe in their vision.

U’ve got plans for an other collection yet?

I have already started thinking of a new collection once I finished my recent one.  Mostly, it would be based on the ideas that I ended up not using in my final BA work – not everything goes with everything, it has to be on a separate expression. It would still be conceptual though, as I like my art to be political and deal with serious issues.

Tell us about where you see yourself and your work in the future?

Firstly, I would love to gain some experience in the industry, then, possibly in a few years, work more on my own thing. Maybe have a little boutique / art gallery in Paris or London. My dear mother helped me loads with my collection, and I really enjoyed working with her, so I believe we’ll definitely do something together again in future.

Ever wanted to do something else than Fashion designer?

As a child I wanted to be a doctor (you probably expected that!), later wanted to do interior design and finally got into fashion. I also love painting and photography, but it is more like a hobby.

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