Exclusive Interview: Ivana K Designs for Independent Spirits - Stylehive

Macedonian born designer Ivana Koceva combines the two worlds of architecture and fashion design. Ivana K. appeared in the London fashion scene just two years ago, yet the label has since attracted a lot of attention from buyers worldwide. The style of this transcendental designer is modern and architectural with reference on costumes from the past in the construction. Focusing on a subtle color palette, Ivana K's high end tailoring follows the individual's anatomical lines, emphasizing the feminine form and creating a strong, yet feminine, silhouette for women.

Read on as Ivana talks to us about her heritage, her favorite designers, what she would be doing if she wasn't a designer, and more.

Stylehive: How does your Macedonian background inform your design aesthetic?
Ivana: Everything started with my Macedonian €œheritage€�- collecting different pieces of traditional antique costumes and crochet table pieces and growing up in a family in the textile business. Besides my fascination of tradition and antique values, I am not a person who is satisfied only with the past, but one who wants to fantasize, invent and make the most irrational possible, trapped in a world of fantasy and science, all thanks to the greatest minds of the last century and contemporary artists.

Stylehive: As a young designer, what brought you to London?
Ivana: London wasn€™t my planned long-term destination, but it just happened. I really fell in love with all the things that this city can give you, feed your creativity and I couldn€™t help it. I just had to move my studio here and let it develop.

Stylehive: Who are some of your favorite designers?
Ivana: I admire the constructive work of Alexander McQueen, and the rich mixture of stories in his collections. At the same time I love Hussein Challayan for his conceptual work, the same as Ann Delemeister and Comme des Garcones.

Stylehive: Tell us about your customer. What kind of woman wears Ivana K?
Ivana: Ivana K€™s woman is non conventional, secure in herself, ready to get attention but in philosophical and sophisticated way.

Stylehive: If you were not a fashion designer, what else might you be doing?
Ivana: If not a Fashion Designer, I would definitely be an architect or maybe a scientist, following the steps of Tesla.

Stylehive: Dr. Dygo, your Spring 2008 collection, is inspired by evolution and the human form. What compelled you to create a collection based on science and the body? Do you feel the relationship between science and technology (aesthetic surgery, etc.) on the one hand, and processes of evolution and natural selection on the other hand, is a harmonious one? If not, how do you see the see these two forces-- nature and technology-- in relation to or in conflict with each other? And how does the dynamic between the two surface in your Dr. Dygo collection?
Ivana: It's been for a long on my mind, all that stuff of people being unhappy with their own body, so I€™ve decided to recreate a new shape for the body, change the standards of a nicely shaped female figure and end up with a completely new beauty. By emphasizing the shoulders I give more power and dignity, reshaping the hips are the main symbol of femininity. This should be the formula for being satisfied with the body.

Stylehive: What is your favorite part of the design process?
Ivana: The best part of the design process is looking at your drawings on paper emerging to be real.

Stylehive: What can you tell us about your next collection? What are its inspirations and references?
Ivana: From the shapes and architectural forms of the "Roaring Twenties" Ivana K introduces "La Môme". Inspired by an Art Deco silhouette, the collection also touches upon the passion and pain of Edith Piaf. The jet black silks combined with strong construction, including shoulder pads, with nipped in waists project a real architectural feel. This season Ivana has focused on the mood and stance of her collection, trying to draw upon the emotions projected by a performer from sombre loss to the joy of the lime light

Stylehive: What celebrity would you love to see wearing something from your line?
Ivana: Keira Knightly.

Stylehive: You've found great success at an early stage in your career. What do you attribute this to, and do you have any advice for those interested in pursuing a career in fashion?
Ivana: The great success is still to come. I am hoping for that. My advice for people who want to be in fashion is : let your passion drive you, do what you really believe will make you happy, do it for yourself.