Erin Hodson A backstage interview with Polish designer Nargiz Salwa at Vancouver Fashion Week FW22, diving into the personal history of her newest collection, and her motives and background as an artist.
Nargiz Salwa’s collection this season presents a personal reflection of her life’s travels and personal moments portrayed through deconstructed fabrics and contrasting dark and bright colours within elevated and thoughtfully constructed garments. Vancouver Fashion Week’s Fall/Winter 2022 runway saw the collection of a designer inspired by her personal experiences, aiming to find a style that everyone can find themselves in.
What inspired your brand?
It was a long road. All my life I had been searching for what I want, what I love more, and I was trying to find myself. One day when I was in a fabric store, I took the fabric in my hand and I felt so good – I felt emotions I don’t know how to explain. In my childhood, my grandmother had a sewing machine, and I just sewed a lot of things. Style and fashion made me feel good, and that was when I understood that this is my destiny. So one day I came to Poland with my husband and began studying there at the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design. One year ago I finished there, I showed my collection, and from that moment I continued on this path.
What inspired this specific collection?
My collection is made up of little moments of life, shown emotionally and through color. You will see in the fashion show, how it begins with childhood, to when we grow up and are adults, and then ends with death. Adults have long black colors with pink, to add something beautiful, and to symbolize that none of these moments are “bad”. The collection isn’t meant to be dark.
What’s your creative process like?
It’s very difficult to have inspiration, to sit and think “Maybe this, or maybe this”. It just comes to your head, you know, when you’re in the bathroom, when you’re cooking something, or when you listen to music. It came to me when I watched people, because for me it’s all based on what I see. All situations in my life, it came to my head and I had that moment where I thought, “I must show this.”
Of course, you can do something without inspiration but it will not have soul or history. I am a very eclectic girl, it’s very hard for me to have one style. I love little by little, maybe because I lived in a lot of countries and it means that I love all cultures, so I can’t choose one country for myself. So, this is my character; I collect girls who don’t have one style, so everyone can find something for themselves.
Have your travels influenced your designs?
Yes, because those travels are part of my moments of life too. After Siberia, we traveled with my parents to Azerbaijan and stayed there. It was a large part of my life. I lived in Ukraine too, in Moscow, and after this I found my destiny in Poland with my husband. It was in Poland where I began my fashion road. There were good moments, color moments, and dark moments.
What’s the vision of the future of your brand?
I have only begun my road! When I return from Canada I will open my online store, and it will grow up, I hope, all over the world!
Thank you to Nargiz Salwa for the introspective look into your conceptual collection. It’s an honor to see a collection with such personal history, please continue to stun us with your heartfelt designs!
Nargiz Salwa’s designs can be found on her instagram @nargizsalwa. For more runway photos, check out @vanfashionweek on instagram.