Do not wear

series of photographs, zines, objects and events focused on the phenomenon of archival fashion - honouring collectors of archival fashion by photographing rare archival clothes (from 1990 to early 2000) that are religiously collected, traded, but almost never worn. The situation where often thrifted piece gains so much importance it becomes static symbol, cultural reference is something that both me and my friend Štěpán were (and still very much are) intrigued by. Not only are the pieces valuable, but they also allow for different relationship with high fashion brands, that is not based solely on cost of the pieces, but also on the taste, skill and network of the collector since the pieces can’t be easily obtained on the regular market.

Men and my friend Štěpán Popelka stared taking pictures with archival fashion pieces which eventually resulted in a 12 hour studio shoot - 39 monochromatic pictures from this session ended up making the first issue of our zine. We were both taking pictures at the same time and the zine itself offers two different perspectives on the same situation, creates sort of a dialogue between the two of us. Zine itself has two front pages and meets in the middle.

I understood the importance of strong visual identity since the very beginning which lead us to series of interesting creative exercises. I have decided to use a clothing tag as central object, logo of the project. Actual fabric tag referencing the T-shirt washing instructions was sewn on the cover of each zine we produced. During the release party, we also encouraged people attending the event to bring their own clothes with them and had the designer Jan Černý to sew the tags onto their clothes. Our tags made their way onto everything from coats to tote bags and could be seen somewhere at almost every show during the Mercedes-benz Prague Fashion Week which took place at the same time.

The tag shape also appears in series of other materials from videos to posters.

First party was held at a place called “The Room by Basmatee” – small store in the centre of Prague offering selection of contemporary men’s fashion. We redecorated the space and took care of everything from DJ lineup to zine display and special lighting.

Second party took place at a partially-flooded garage on a construction site. This time we had even more freedom in rearranging the space. Floating styrofoam pieces, guitar session, small exhibition and custom made lightbox. Designer Dominika Kozáková sew the tags to peoples clothes during the event once again, this time in updated colour way. Our bodyguard stole a lot of food and disappeared mid-party.

Second issue of the zine is set on a small lake beach where we invited several of our friends. This time the images are colourful and out take place out of the studio. We are still optimising the supply chain and enforcing strict quality control while staying within our budget. The party expands on our current visual language and we work with thermal printer, metal pins and scanned pieces. Approaches that partly overlap with my fine arts practice.

More of the creative proces can be found on Behance.