Chatting about sustainability, responsible design and minimalism with NY Fashion designer Karolina of KZ_K Studio.
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Minimalism. The term is ubiquitous but seemingly difficult to attain when shopping has become the need to fulfill an insatiable desire to stay ahead of trends than it is to build a functional wardrobe. Yet, the idea of shopping for specific pieces that suit our lives is an idea that all of us could embrace more often when shopping. “Slow fashion is a discipline that supersedes trend,” is how NY fashion designer Karolina Zmarlak thinks about the gap between minimalism and trends. As the co-founder and creative director of the NY-based KZ_K Studio, she holds true to the ethos of minimalism by crafting timeless designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also practical for the modern day woman. That translates to high-tech fibers that fall beautifully but can withstand the on-the-go life in the city or reversible seams so that coats can be worn inside out for a fresh ‘new’ look.
Ahead of NY Fashion Week (where it can still feel like fast fashion and trends still reign supreme) it was nice to slow down with Karolilna and learn about her insight on the slow fashion community in New York and responsible design. “It’s about continually connecting together with experts based on trust, vision and execution, to establish standards of excellence,” she says. Her Great Jones Street studio is not only where she designs each collection but also where her team works with clients to streamline and find the missing pieces for their wardrobe and resew a seam here or there if needed to ensure that each piece will last them for life. “It’s not based on what’s next, but on what’s highly functional and aesthetically pleasing.”
What influences your designs?
My partner in business and life, Jesse Keyes is an architect by trade. Architects have an acute seriousness in their design and execution, it’s a precision that demands focus and attention and serves as a source of inspiration each season. Our collection, much like architecture, is designed so that the final product serves a functional, durable and aesthetic purpose for my client.
Growing up in Easter Europe, I had always been exposed to a minimalist aesthetic. That less was more, but that less must be designed well to serve more of what was needed. The Multifunctional discipline developed each season is our ongoing commitment to maximizing the wearability and flexibility of each piece.
How does minimalism and functionality play into your FW22 collection?
We conceived KZ_K Studio as a fashion line that would hew to the tenants of multi-functionalism, a foundational notion within the discipline of architecture. We wanted to make pieces that could be worn, each in many variations, and together in a series of alternative and creative ways to fit the unique functional and aesthetic needs of modern women. Each season we look to architectural influences, and for our Cycle 2.22 (cool weather) we were inspired by architect Charlotte Perriand. In her life, in its free spiritedness, she employed a highly conscious balance of work, leisure and sport which we captured within the collection. She applied modernist principles to design and didn’t just decorate a room, she equipped it for functionality, a concept which we translated to our RTW collection.
How does minimalism influence your personal style?
I suppose my style is my professional life, in that each collection we’ve designed, now at over 35, is steeped in stylized minimalism, and developed for a lifetime of use. The outcome is that I have, and wear, our collections, in a plethora of variable ways every day, in whole, and pulled from every cycle, since our inception, in 2009. My style is the collection, so much so that we’ve agreed as a team to never design anything that I would not appreciatively wear; so, then I do! Longevity and minimalism in life? I’d say that’s most connected to almost 15 years of focused design and development, which I will do, designing under this ethos and discipline, for the rest of my life, however long it may be.
What sustainable changes do you notice happening in New York’s fashion industry?
It’s certainly discussed a great deal, but fashion design is as diverse as cuisine: Micky D’s is no Enrique Olveras. But as fast food will always, by definition, not be sustainable as it searches for the lowest cost, lowest quality products, so will fast fashion be designed to disintegrate before the next fad. As we believe in slow fashion, so too do our close partner mills (Japanese), tanneries (European), and factors (NYC Garment District), place commitments in improving environmental standards and high quality manufacturing. Pieces are designed and produced, responsibly; in slow fashion, we all talk together to continually improve standards of sourcing and manufacturing.
How does you produce your designs responsibly?
Local production is paramount to our responsible fashion mentality. We are responsible in our purchasing in that we only buy from countries where we are certain they employ environmentally responsible fabric manufacturing processes, namely in Europe and Japan. In addition, these same countries responsibly pay every person who works within the value chain reasonably, so each can maintain a decent quality of life. This means the fabrics we buy are expensive, and they also fall in line with our value system.
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Responsible also means we produce quantities that are in line directly with our full retail price sales expectations. We never go on sale, we are careful to plan smaller productions that fit with our direct to client majority model (via our studio and events we hold throughout the country), and more than happy to take back at full price any unsold items from our retail partners. We have designed each piece to last for a lifetime of use, and that the ultimate responsibility for us lies in each piece’s durability. To sell more volume at discount is anathema to our studio values.
Our responsible thinking also relates to the choice we make to spend 10X, to cut, sew and sample only with our partners here in New York City, never in a minimally regulated, low cost foreign country. Producing in NYC allows us to be in-person, communicating, with our factory partners, all of whom are highly skilled. It also affords us the ability to quickly make corrections and increase production as needed.
