Miroslava has been based in Barcelona for a very short time, where she has established herself as a fashion and accessories designer. Her diadems and turbans are elegant, handmade and with haute-couture quality finishes. The materials used by Mirka are mostly velvet, cotton, and silk; be it braided, twisted, quilted and beaded. Some of them are reminiscent of medieval garlands and reminiscent of the traditional Russian Kokóshnik. Today at "BEHIND THE DESIGN" we would like to know more about the origins of the brand, the mission, and vision of her entrepreneurship project and Mirka's sources of inspiration.

Your career has been mostly focused on fashion design, but you have decided to focus your project on something as concrete as hair accessories. What did you see in this approach that the more generalist fashion design did not bring? Is it logistically easier to design headbands and headpieces collections than a clothing collection?

It is no secret that a headband is an accessory with a rich history. They have always been and they will be. This is a classic, which means it’ll always be in. Nowadays, the headband is not only a means to hold the hair, but also a fashion accessory, a complete art detail that allows completing an elegant look.

When I arrived in Barcelona, I explored the market. At first, I wanted to make my own collection, but there were many but... To create a collection you need a team of like-minded people, and I still don’t have that equipment here. So, I decided to start with a small but powerful accessory, like a headband. And I think I was right. This vibrant accessory can revive any look, giving it a feminine touch. Here, as in the clothing collection, there is an unlimited field for creativity. You can play with prints, sizes, color, embroidery, textures, accessories. In fact, I began to create under the motto: "Distinguish yourself from the crowd and make it talk about you!"

Could you tell us about your creative process, from the first sketches to the packaging design (which we know, is also very careful)? How do you select the materials you use in Mirkafashion?

The headband creation process is completely creative. For example, it begins with choosing the fabric for me. Every time I see a handkerchief in my head, a picture is formed of what and how to do it with this material. Then I decide what’s best for this tissue, what technique I’ll use. Whether we need foam for this model or better without it, and limit ourselves to the base.

My headbands are sewn in 70% by hand, and I declare with knowledge of cause that they are made by my hands. They are made with much love, awareness, and dedication! My attitude towards details is essential. I am very sensitive to the choice of velvet straps that underlie the headband. For me, it is very important that it is always clear that what we have in our hands is a very high-quality product, with whichever fabric is used: silk or cotton… In addition, the logo is a silk base and golden lurex.

It's been a while since the last time I did a "BEHIND THE DESIGN" feature here in Something Fashion but, since my homework and architecture duties seem to have calmed down for a bit here in Firenze, I wanted you to meet another fashion entrepreneur whose brand Ibaza I met during the last Barreira A+D students catwalk. My friend and I left the catwalk mesmerized by those headpieces with snakes full of colorful scales and finally, I could sit down and write some questions for its creative director for all of you to meet her and know a bit more behind her philosophy and workflow.

Accessories are one of the main foundations when it comes to a successful outfit, but sometimes we totally forget about them and give more importance to other fashion pieces in our attires. What would you say to people who only pays attention to the tag in what they're wearing?
Everybody has a different rhythm in their lives: there are some people who doesn't care at all in the tag because they're just used to wear something everyday, and other people who wearing something from a high end brand is big effort which may ultimately end in some personal satisfaction. I am one of those who has always thought that wearing a bag because some kind of celebrity has worn it previously is just a flamboyance. I like to wear things which claim a message, something which has lived some sort of battle in history in which I feel identified or I'm in favor of. Therefore, a piece of clothing is not just a thing which an expensive name behind, but it is something that represent my ideals and the ashes of a battle to get a place at the closet of other people. That's what satisfies me.

Anastasia - EcoThiQue. Sometimes it truly feels like the Universe aligns to bring you the most unexpected experiences. As I love getting involved on every project and every new idea, both related to personal to professional-related fields, I was looking for a new way to get involved into something exciting when I found about Workkola. Workkola is a brand new Spanish-based startup which aims to connect College students with startups related to their educational field or interest. The startup chosen by the student gives him a task to accomplish inside the company; offering in return a recommendation at LinkedIn, a letter of recommendation or even the possibility to enroll the startup as part of the team.

So, that's how I discovered today's main character here at the "Behind the Design" section at the blog. Anastasia - EcoThiQue is a Colombian based company created in the wake of two truly laudable goals: to make something profitable out of tons of textile waste (T-shirt collars, wrong-dyed fabrics and textile leftovers which is a real problem) and to help a community of mothers in charge of disabled child. Did you know that more than 32,5kg of textile is wasted per person, a year? And that more than a 48% of it might be reusable for good?

I got the chance to talk with María del Mar, Anastasia's CEO and founder and have a glimpse of the hard work they do everyday. Anastasia - EcoThiQue helps those mothers by including them at their production chain of handcrafted clutches, handbags and accessories made out of textile leftovers, which ends on an unique and colorful product. A fashion company is much more than catwalks and great design: there's a lot of management, talks and meetings with producers, with the community in this particular case, with future stockists and vendors... Being a contributor helped me have a little look on how hard it is to coordinate everything and everyone as an orchestra director, to obtain a final product to sell, which has to have an impact on the public to keep growing.

Anastasia has also worked hard on keeping a lovely and very attractive image on their main social network which is their Instagram official account , full of colorful images featuring artists and fashion bloggers carrying their handbags on unique photomontages.

I used to draw a lot when I was a child. Really, drawing was (and still it is) one of my passions which helped me express myself and tell stories I was never able to speak out with words. Fashion mannequins were pretty common on my sketchbooks but their stylized figures and lines mutated eventually into buildings and façades, and so it has been until today. That's why I always feel so fascinated meeting new designers who like to draw their own sketches, professional artists who are not afraid of failing on a pair of lines, because the final piece would look good anyway. And they know it.

David Yza was born in Mexico and studied at La Salle University. He works as a graphic designer and fashion illustrator. I discovered his illustrations thanks to my friend E. Jairycovich and Chapelle Magazine where I write and contribute from time to time, as he's been featured on the issue as artist too. "Apart from being a fan of cartoons, I had (still have) a great inclination and admiration for the world of style and beauty (...) On my sketches there was a certain focus into clothing, stylized figures and daring positions, as they were taken from an editorial" he says, stating that his drawing style originated as he realized he couldn't be 100% true to the images he wanted to emulate.

David has been a self-taught artist, but he says that thanks to his graphic design studies he's been able to have a better approachment to illustration and different techniques which have enriched his work and made it complexer and funnier as well. His work is unique, as he plays both with traditional and digital media to create his elegant shaped drawings mostly sketched with chinese ink, watercolor and then post-produced on the computer. He took inspiration from old drawings of Yves Saint Laurent or clean lines and slight touches of color master Rene Gruau, although David's style is more into quick traces and incomplete figures, which make his work dynamic and able to be interpreted from different sides. Like if everyone could complete the sketch on their own minds making thousand of different versions of it. His art took the essence and simplicity of classic fashion illustrations but adapting them into a 21th Century outfits which he has achieved through a long process based on practice and hard work.

I want to thank David for being so friendly and enthusiastic on taking part on this feature at Something Fashion, and hoping to see his designs soon at the biggest publications! Good luck!

When I first met Elvira 't Hart designs I could do nothing but feel amazed at the idea behind the whole line and the particular performance process.

Elvira is a fashion designer and illustrator based in Utrecht, Netherlands. She absolutely loves drawing and sketching, her work has been featured on several expositions and fashion fairs in Paris and Milan, international magazines and also worn by Lady Gaga! Just a little hint of the talent I'm talking to you about today.

[...] ''For the fashion industry, I believe the digital aspect gives the designs a whole different feel- and that is what I think attracts people to it. It isn't the traditionally and commonly used method of hand painting and sketching'' [...]

Meet Angelina Paldzyan, blogger and illustrator from Fashion Freedom, where she features her personal way to combine fashion and art on an universal and understandable language for everybody. Angelina is a young artist born in California but Armenian descent, who wants to study fashion design while she recreates on her drawings collections by famous designers like Giambattista Valli or Valentino.

Fashion is body art. A framed art piece looks nice hung up on a wall, right? But what if you took that same art piece, turned it into a patterned, textured fabric and made it into a structured dress? The woman wearing this dress would add much more effect to it with her confidence and energy. This is what fascinates me the most: the impact that nice clothes have on people and vice versa. I draw fashion because I admire the concept of style and personality coming together with art and design.

Shading! It's the key to a more realistic, three-dimensional illustration.

[...] ''For me, what's important is the story behind the design, the care you put when you create a very unique design'' [...]

Meet Sofi Le Geron and her designs at LouveDeNordneg, where art and imagination turn into unique silk scarves and bowties. Sofi studied at London's Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, and launched her brand on 2011. She designs chiffon silk pieces from manipulated photographs of different objects and sculptures created by her own.

Your designs are delicate and very imaginative. How does the main idea of a pattern come up? 

It will all sound very romantic (OMG I’m so French sometimes!!) but for this collection, I used withered flowers from my garden, feathers, leaves, ink, pearls, ribbons, lace, etc. I use these as a base to create miniature sculptures (yes I’m quite small – size 6 and 162cm so I like creating small worlds that fits me!). I spend hours carefully arranging my selection of objects to make sure that the final result is as perfect as possible, harmonious, well balanced and striking by their colours and textures. 

Tell us a little bit about the process that your scarves and bowties follow. Do you use chiffon silk for any particular reason?

I just love silk. It’s so soft on the skin, so delicate, floaty, light but strong at the same time, like the tiny little worms who make it, haha! Because my designs are quite romantic and aerial, so I felt that it was the perfect material to use. 

Do you think there’s any particular pattern, shape or colors that always come on your scarves? Or they just come up in total different ways?

My designs always come up differently, that’s what I prefer when I create patterns: sometimes they really surprise me. When you create something, it’s like psychoanalyzing yourself somehow: you  discover traits of your personality you might not have been aware of. Getting a different result each time is very exciting. But the challenge is to have an harmonious collection and that takes a lot of practice, knowledge and learning.