Photos: Alexandr Tsybulsky ©
Do ideas float in the air? DZHUS took guests behind the scenes of their AW20 show at Ukrainian Fashion Week on February 1, 2020 – a few weeks before Gucci entertained their audience with a similar concept.
DZHUS AW20 show was performed in an experimental format of an open backstage space where the guests witnessed the finishing touches of each look before the models stepped onto the catwalk. DZHUS team themselves applied the brand’s signature garment transformations in front of the audience invited behind the scenes – as an eloquent response to #WhoMadeMyClothes? The concept of the performance is by Alla Hetman.
DZHUS AW20 collection, MISCONCEPT, is an irony about classic, stereotypical and ‘must-have’ clothing styles, which DZHUS have interpreted in a most unexpected way, offering radical yet wearable transformations of the garments.
Reflecting on the shallow and transient nature of today’s fashion, Irina Dzhus aims to draw attention to the lowdown of the industry and comes up with styling stunts as alternative solutions against overconsumption. The designer looks literally between the lines of the trendy silhouettes, deciphering their structure and suggesting multi-purpose upgrades.
Normcore pieces have become a great inspiration for DZHUS’ capsule. The intellectual designs play up the standardised sartorial details: collars, sleeves, pockets etc. which now either interflow into each other, or have been smartly imitated, or revealing new functions once a garment is turned inside out or fastened in a different way. Celebrating all ins and outs of a fashion product and highlighting all the undertones, DZHUS state that what is considered a ‘wrong side’ always hides enormous utilitarian potential.
Featuring avant-garde textures and revolutionary cuts, DZHUS AW20 line is manufactured using cruelty-free materials, according to the ethical production principles lying at the core of the brand. For warm garments, DZHUS used eco-friendly hemp insulation engineered by a sustainable Ukrainian brand DevoHome.
DZHUS’ pattern-making inventions offer creative ways to minimise shopping by using seemingly basic items in diverse configurations, proving that a norm is the biggest illusion of all.
As for the traditional catwalk show, it took place at another section of the space, where only the press was invited.
Beauty partner of the show: Y. Vision Creative Group.
Ethical footwear partner: House Martin.
Photos: YURY ROMANOFF ©
DZHUS Autumn/Winter 2020 line includes a recognisable oversized shopper bag which can now be worn as a skirt; a double-sided architectonic puffer that fits as perfectly upside down and features multiple modifications; and suspender shorts turning into a square tote – to name a few.
The signature piece of the MISCONCEPT collection is an archetypical white shirt transforming into a handbag once folded in a classical manner.
Photos: JUDE P. ©
Founded in 2010 by Ukrainian designer and stylist Irina Dzhus, DZHUS is now internationally recognised by the innovative cut and multi-purpose transformations of clothing objects.
The brand’s ideology stands for consciousness and humanity. Ethically manufactured using cruelty-free materials, all DZHUS products are vegetarian-friendly.
In 2019, DZHUS has won the Cruelty-free Fashion prize at Best Fashion Awards – the most prestigious fashion rating in Ukraine.
Short-listed for the International Woolmark Prize in 2015, DZHUS present their collections during Ukrainian and Paris Fashion Weeks.
DZHUS clothing is stocked at concept stores in the USA, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and sold online worldwide. DZHUS’ customer is a nonconformist intellectual in search of the perfect shell for her distinctive inner world.
