Reflections on the first collection MAZURA

Vagadu is my new fashion line. I started it to bring together my love for fashion and art. I have been designing clothing for many years, and so of course I think of my designs as art. But I also wanted to design clothing that celebrates and participates in art. Let me explain.

It all goes back to my grandfather, the Bohemian artist Jean Varda. Varda made brilliant collages of celestial cities, curvy women, and funny looking fish, and worked around San Francisco with Henry Miller and the Beat Generation in the 1960's. For quite a while, I have thought that Varda's work has not been given the recognition it deserves. And being an artist myself, I saw that the best way to honor my grandfather was to draw inspiration from his work in my own designs. My first company did just this. It was a collaborative effort called MAZURA, and we premiered our Varda Collection in May. MAZURA no longer exists, but the fashions live on and this blog allows me to explore the creative process and meaning of translating art into fashion.


So... what is Vagadu, then? It just came from one of those "ah-ha" moments where everything made perfect sense (it is also the name of my mother). I liked making clothes this way so much that I had to create a new fashion line to draw inspiration from other visual artists for new, one-of-a-kind fashion pieces. Because the artist for the first collection of Vagadu is still under consideration, and both lines are based on the same premise I feel this blog is a great way for people to understand how Vagadu will be designed. As time goes on, I will start giving behind-the-scenes looks at the ideas going into the first Vagadu line, which will be debuted this December in Chicago.

Here I will describe one of the Varda fashions in detail, and a little general commentary about the whole collection.

When we (my then partner Masumi Patzel) took on Jean Varda's work, the first challenge was to choose which collages to use as muses. He was extremely prolific and so narrowing down took some time. I took a week or so just staring at different collages that I had printed out and let outfits come to me from a slow, observation standpoint. Over time, it became apparent which collages would be used since I could imagine several fashion pieces from particular artworks. This was key for me because I was already envisioning the fashion show where models would emerge from one painting and would interact with each other as if we--the audience--has stepped into their world.

One of such collages is the untitled golden collage that first appears above. This piece has an amazingly rich pallet, and the figures inside of it are regal as if we were entering a fantastical Egyptian court. As I worked with this collage idea after idea came to me (and still do). In fact, four of the pieces from the collection are derived from it. My favorite from the four is pictured to the right. This piece was one of the first I started and the last one to finish. It combines both literal and conceptual elements, and is one of the strongest designs from the collection.

The top of the dress came from a terrible disco-era-early-80's dress. I loved the sparkles and the beautiful scoop of the neck and knew that once removed from the original garment it wielded potential. The somewhat wispy texture of the fabric also represented the airy white shoulder garment from the Orange Woman in the collage. Although you can't see the back of the dress, the halter's sash is polka-dotted which match the arms of the Orange Woman as well. The stripes in the dress make another such obvious connection with the collage. The skirt originally was knee-length and straight across. The v-shaped cut of the skirt was the last element added to the dress which not only adds more dimension and flow to the piece and is also in the style of Varda.

As you can see in the image that follows, Varda uses triangles in the pelvic area of the women in his art. Cubuesque, it is a symbol that reinforces the raw femininity of his women
that is necessary since he rarely defined the breasts separately (a more typical symbol of women). Therefore, adding the v-shaped curve to the dress was appropriate. Moreover, it emphasizes the red and yellow slopping pelvic decor that are derived from the colors in the Orange Woman's skirt. The last note I want to make about this piece is its origins. The sash came from a dress, as well as the skirt, the yellow fabric is fringe from a curtain and the red is a remnant. Depending on the wearer, this item can be worn as either a dress or a tunic or a blouse....my designs let the wearer decide. But flexibly is key to the majority of my clothing pieces.

I will be posting about once a week at first, so if you like hearing about my creative process, or want to learn more details about the upcoming Vagadu line, check back in soon.