Dezeen Magazine

Marta Jakubowski collection

Marta Jakubowski connects RCA fashion collection with fabric trains

Models were joined with trains of fabric in fashion graduate Marta Jakubowski's collection during the Royal College of Art catwalk show yesterday.

Marta Jakubowski collection
Photograph by Dan Howarth (also main image)

Marta Jakubowski used lengths of jersey to link together five of the outfits in her MA Fashion collection.

Marta Jakubowski collection
Photograph by Dan Howarth

The train started at the back of a metal headpiece worn by the first model, drooped down to the floor then joined the front of another model's steel headgear.

Marta Jakubowski collection
Photograph by Dan Howarth

The red, white and black strips of material led from long, flowing outfits in the same colours. One of the looks was made from 17 metres of material.

Marta Jakubowski collection

"There is a lot of fabric in my garments since they all connect within each other and with another look," Jakubowski told Dezeen.

Marta Jakubowski collection

She combined light materials like jersey and crepe with neoprene for heavier garments. "It was very important that the garments are light and fluent and move with ease," she said.

Marta Jakubowski collection

Jakubowski said that the collection told a story of "being connected and loosing".

"I lost my mum just in the summer before I started my MA," she explained. "I wouldn't call it inspiration but it definitely changed my whole life and influenced the way I think and express myself in my work."

Marta Jakubowski collection

Jakubowski said she had used the design process as a kind of therapy, recording films in which she expressed her emotions as part of her development work.

Marta Jakubowski collection

"I started to record myself in little short movies to picture my feelings since I was not really able to communicate it in a different way," she said. "After a while I included materials and stared to create silhouettes to express all the feelings and these were starting point for my design work."

Marta Jakubowski collection

In some of the final pieces, the material was raised over the face. "Sometimes the garments cover the mouth, which symbolises muteness and sickness, and sometimes the garment starts under the eyes so it looks like black tears," said Jakubowski.

Marta Jakubowski collection

Each headpiece was made from metal wires bent into different shapes. Once removed, the outfits can be worn as everyday attire. "Everything could be very wearable without the connections and the headpieces," Jakubowski said.

The collection was shown as part of London's Royal College of Art fashion show at the institution's Kensington campus. Photography is by Dominic Tschudin/RCA, unless otherwise stated.