Lara, I've known you for a very long time, since my childhood, when we were at primary school (1977–1980). Then I went to another primary school and we only met again when I was at university (1992). After that we haven't seen each other since 1994 until »now«. Can you tell us what you studied in Ljubljana and why you decided to continue your studies abroad? And how did you go from working for Gucci, Costume National, Lanvin and Julien Macdonald to designing your own label? Can you tell us more about that? Lara, poznam te že zelo dolgo, še iz otroških let, ko sva bili v osnovni šoli (1977–1980). Potem sem šla na drugo osnovno šolo in sva se ponovno začeli družiti šele v študentskih letih (1992). Potem se nisva več srečali od 1994 do »danes«. Nam poveš kaj si študirala v Ljubljani in zakaj si se odločila, da nadaljuješ študij v tujini? In kako si prišla od tega, da si delala za Gucci, Costume National, Lanvin and Julien Macdonald in se nato odločila, da oblikuješ svojo lastno znamko. Nam poveš kaj več tudi o tem? I studied industrial design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. I went to London to study at the Royal College of Art, specialising in jewellery and metalwork. I came into contact with Gucci because they noticed my headpiece jewellery and the editor of Vogue noticed it as well and published it, which was my first media breakthrough – that's how I became known and started working at the invitation of various mentioned companies, but I've always designed my own jewellery. V Ljubljani sem študirala industrijsko oblikovanje na Akademiji za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje. V London sem šla študirati na Royal College of Art, smer oblikovanje kovin in nakita. Do stika s podjetjem Gucci sem prišla tako, da so opazili moj nakit za na glavo head pieces in kar je opazila tudi urednica Vogue ter ga objavila, kar je bil moj prvi medijski preboj – na tak način sem postala prepoznavna in na povabilo različnih podjetij sem začela sodelovati z njimi, vendar sem vedno oblikovala svoj nakit. When you were studying in Ljubljana, you focused mainly on jewellery design. In one of the interviews (2022), you said that if you hadn't designed furniture, you could have designed cakes or arranged flowers. I've also known you as a person who has always had a versatile talent for design. I know that when you were a student you designed and sewed your own clothes, you crocheted, you cut our hair and did our make-up. I also remember you telling me several times that every woman can be beautiful if she is fashionable. If I look at it that way, at that time you were mainly interested in beautifying and enriching a woman in different ways. That's why it seems to have been such a natural decision to chose design jewellery as a profession – what was your biggest inspiration back then and what do you think about it now? Ko si bila še na študiju v Ljubljani, si se usmerila predvsem v oblikovanje nakita. V intervjuju leta 2022 pa si dejala, da če se ne bi ukvarjala z oblikovanjem pohištva, bi lahko oblikovala torte ali aranžirala cvetje. Tudi jaz te poznam kot osebo, ki si bila od nekdaj vsestransko talentirana za oblikovanje. Vem, da si si v času študija sama oblikovala in šivala obleke, kvačkala ali da si nas znala tudi modno postriči in naličiti in kar si tudi omenila v enem od intervjujev. Spomnim se tudi, da si mi večkrat rekla, da je lahko prav vsaka ženska lepa, če se modno uredi. Če tako pogledam, te je v tistem času zanimalo predvsem olepšati in obogatiti žensko na različne načine. Zato se zdi, da je bila odločitev za oblikovanje nakita tako naravna – kaj je bil takrat tvoj največji navdih in kaj meniš o vsem tem danes? I've been always interested in different kinds of design, from graphics, fashion, architecture and jewellery. At that time I felt that jewellery as a 3D object design was a kind of mixture or medium of all of the above, but since jewellery design is limited to the body, which can only have certain shapes and weights, I started to focus on designing larger objects that can be put in different spaces and configurations that jewellery doesn't allow – that's how I got into furniture design. Od nekaj so me zanimale različne vrste oblikovanja, od grafike, mode, arhitekture in tudi nakita. Takrat se mi je zdelo, da je bil nakit kot oblikovanje 3D predmetov nekakšna mešanica ali medij vsega omenjenega, vendar pa ker je oblikovanje nakita omejeno le na telo, ki ima lahko le določene oblike in težo, sem se čez čas začela posvečati oblikovanju večjih predmetov, ki jih lahko postaviš v različne prostore in konfiguracije, kar nakit ne omogoča – tako sem prišla do oblikovanja pohištva. I don't know if you know this, but with your versatile design you seem to be very close to the ideal of the ancient philosophers, so called sophists, who also thought that philosophers should be able to design practical objects out of wood, to sew something, as well as to write a poem or to lecture someone about their knowledge, skills and experiences. Have you ever thought about teaching and educating the younger generation? Ne vem, če veš, toda s svojim vsestranskim oblikovanjem se zdi, da si blizu idealu t.i. antičnih sofističnih filozofov, tudi ti so menili, da morajo sofistični filozofi znati oblikovati praktične predmete iz lesa, si znati kaj sešiti, enako kakor napisati pesem ali koga poučiti o svojem znanju, veščinah in izkušnjah. Si kdaj pomislila, da bi tudi predavala in izobraževala mlajšo generacijo? I occasionally lecture or give seminars at schools, but so far no one from a major educational institution has approached me with a serious, attractive offer to become lecturer on a regular basis. Vsake toliko časa imam predavanje na šolah ali vodim kakšen seminar, vendar zaenkrat še nihče iz kakšne večje izobraževalne ustanove še ni pristopil k meni z resno, privlačno ponudbo, da bi redno predavala. How much do you think it is necessary to listen to the client and how much following your own ideas? Do you think that general awareness, knowledge of different artistic styles and some abstract (philosophical, sociological theories) can contribute to good design ideas? Koliko meniš, da je pri oblikovanju potrebno poslušati naročnika/ico in koliko slediti svojim zamislim? Meniš, da splošna razgledanost, poznavanje raznih umetniških slogov in tudi kakšnih abstraktnih (filozofskih, socioloških teorij) lahko pripomore k dobrim oblikovalskim zamislim? When you get an order of a certain product, you have to follow the customer's wishes. However designing your own collection is an art that requires the designer to have a wide and versatile knowledge of techniques, shapes and materials. Če dobiš izdelavo nekega izdelka po naročilu, moraš slediti želji stranke. Sicer pa pri oblikovanju določene kolekcije velja, da je dizjan umetnost, ki od oblikovalca zahtevo raznovrstno poznavanje tehnik, oblik in materialov. How important is promotion and advertising for the success of a collection, and how much do you invest in it? I remember that you were aware of this very early on, because back in the old socialist days you promoted your jewellery by having the singer of the then famous Slovenian band Videosex wear it. You also organised exhibitions of your jewellery with events to which you always invited celebrities from the entertainment and art scene. Koliko je pri uspešnosti določene kolekcije pomembna promocija in oglaševanje ter koliko ti vlagaš v to? Spomnim se, da si se tega že zgodaj dobro zavedala, saj si še v davnih socialističnih časih svoj nakit promovirala tako, da ga je nosila pevka takrat znane slovenske skupine Videosex. Prav tako si organizirala razstave svojega nakita z dogodki, na katere si zmeraj povabila znane osebnosti z estrade. Yes, you have to invest a lot in advertising and promotion, because that's how you make yourself accessible to people, therefore you ought to have promotional material ready in advance for each collection. But people come to you and order your products because they like your design and find it attractive to buy and have them in their homes. Da, v oglaševanje in promocijo moraš veliko vlagati, saj na tak način postaneš dostopen ljudem, zato moraš imeti pri vsaki kolekciji vnaprej pripravljen promocijski material, ljudje pa nato pristopijo k tebi in naročijo tvoje izdelke, ker jim je všeč tvoje oblikovanje. Speaking of socialist times, do you remember how we used to think (back in 1992 or so) that we were more unique with our clothes and accessories, even though we lived in a social system that emphasised uniformity rather than diversity? How do you feel about that today? Ko že omenjam socialistične čase, se spomniš, kako sva nekoč (tam okoli 1991) razmišljali, da smo bili nekoč bolj unikatni v oblačenju in modnih dodatkih, čeprav smo živeli v družbenem sistemu, ki je bolj poudarjal uravnilovko kakor raznolikost. Kako o tem razmišljaš danes? I don't know if we were unique, but we were certainly creative because there was 'nothing' back then, so for instance I sew my own clothes, but now there's so much variety in design that it's cheaper to buy something that's already made than to make it yourself. Ne vem, če smo bili ravno unikatni, bili pa smo ustvarjalni, ker takrat ničesar ni bilo, zato sem si jaz takrat šivala obleke, danes pa je že toliko raznovrstne dizajnerske ponudbe, da je cenejše kupiti že nekaj narejenega, kot pa da bi si to sami naredili. In terms of diversity, what about the diversity of lifestyles? At that time (around 1992) we also went to the LGBT club to party, and that's where you met some gays and lesbians. What do you think about the situation of LGBT people in Ljubljana then and now? And you probably also met LGBT people in London at that time, did you notice any differences between the Slovenian and the English scene and now, if so, which ones? Kar zadeva raznolikost, kaj pa raznolikost življenjskih stilov? V tistem času (okoli 1992–1994) sva hodili žurati tudi v LGBT klub in takrat si spoznala nekatere geje in lezbijke. Kaj meniš o položaju LGBT ljudi v Ljubljani v tistem času in danes? In verjetno si v tem času v Londonu spoznala tudi LGBT-osebe, verjetno si opazila kakšne razlike med slovensko in angleško sceno; če da, katere? I don't know about the LGBT scene in London because I don't go there, but there is certainly more diversity in London than in Ljubljana, both in terms of the LGBT scene and different races and ethnicities. LGBT scene v Londonu ne poznam, ker je ne obiskujem, vendar je v Londonu gotovo večja raznolikost glede vsega, tako LGBT scene, kakor je tudi različnih ras, pa etničnih pripadnosti kakor v Ljubljani. What are you most proud of and what is your biggest inspiration? Na kaj si najbolj ponosna in kaj je tvoj največji navdih? I am most proud of my daughter. The thing about inspiration is that it varies a lot, when I start researching something I'm interested in one thing at the beginning, but eventually it changes and I'm interested in different direction. Na svojo hčerko. Glede navdiha pa je tako, da se ta zelo spreminja, ko začnem nekaj raziskovati, me na začetku zanima nekaj, sčasoma pa se to spremeni in me zadeve zanimajo v različnih smereh. What are your current projects and what are your plans for the future? Kakšni so tvoji trenutni projekti in kaj načrtuješ za prihodnost? I've finished a new collection of stone products that we can put things on, like tables, and I'm currently working on a ceramic collection for a client in Italy. Zaključila sem z novo kolekcijo izdelkov iz kamna, na katere lahko postavljamo različne stvari, kot so mize, trenutno pa delam kolekcijo iz keramike za naročnika iz Italije. I wish you many more successes. Želim ti še veliko nadaljnjih uspehov.
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