As part of Pleat Farm’s little makeover, I would like to feature fashion designer Alexandra Verschueren, a graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy. Alexandra’s works have already garnered attention from Wallpaper* to Vogue Italia. Her graduate fashion collection, Medium, delves into the designer’s whimsical, folding world inspired by paper, and fabrics teeming with folded cutouts and textural pleats.

Recently, Alexandra graciously took time to answer questions, and offers us a peak into her works and design process:

Describe your recent collection. What was behind the title, and your inspirations?

My graduate collection was called Medium. I got inspired by the medium paper, after seeing artworks of Thomas Demand, who recreates objects out of everyday life in paper, and then photographs them. I am also inspired by the Youtube video about a couple who walks into an apartment and slowly realizes that everything is made out of paper. In both cases paper is a strong medium to lay bare the artificiality of normal life. That’s why for this collection my concept was paper as it is the starting material for every designer. You sketch on it, draw on it, make your patterns out of it, etc. (cont’d.)

(cont’d.) After that I started thinking how can you translate the idea of ‘paper’ into garments. For the shape I started looking at the Japanese Origamic Architecture by Masahiro Chatani. For the prints I was inspired by the crude first strokes in children’s drawings, but also ink on blotting paper, chalkboard, etc. I really tried to handle my fabric as if it were paper, by pleating, cutting, folding the fabric. And working with fabrics that referred to paper, woolens that don’t unravel and cottons that had lines, squares, rules on it like a notebook.

What is your favorite material and technique?
That’s a tricky question. As I was standing in front of my iron for a long time last year, I found myself liking a lot of the pleating techniques. It was sort of hypnotising making the same movements over and over again. I liked the woolen, polyester blend fabric I received from my sponsor Lycra. They really have incredibily nice fabrics that can handle the starching very well, and react well to the folding. I think my favorite technique was the one I developed for my brown cape, and one of the dresses (see photos below). I also liked the pleating honeygrid technique I applied to one of the parka’s and one of the dresses (see photos below).