Behind the Seams: A In-Depth Look at Designer Alexandra Popescu-York
We sat down with New York based designer Alexandra Popescu-York for a little Q and A to learn more about her Fall Winter 2022 Collection, her designs and plans for the future.
Q: Your collection seemed to have a 1920’s inspiration. Can you tell us what inspired this collection from your most recent show with Art Hearts Fashion?
My collection that I most recently showed at Art Hearts Fashion New York Fashion Week is called “Escape”. Fashion can be an Escape into an ideal world.
I am very honored to be part of Art Hearts Fashion for so many seasons. I want to thank the amazing Art Hearts Fashion team with this occasion. I feel that my vision comes to life on the runway and every season we tell a unique story.
Everything I do, being a designer and artist, is in relation to the artistic message I want to send to the public. This season I wanted to present a collection that is luxurious and glamorous above anything. Because the world needs it. We need to feel beautiful, pampered, and we need to express our uniqueness. It has been 2 years since the pandemic was announced and the world has changed so much. Fashion did too.
The lockdown, the traveling restrictions made sweatpants the norm of fashion. Well, I say that it’s time to give his trend of leisure fashion an alternative.
The roaring twenties where I took some of my inspiration can be the new roaring twenty twenty twos. We are hoping for an economic boom and for social, artistic and cultural dynamism.
All the pieces from this collection are made in-house, in New York.
Feathers, fringes, luxurious materials, embroidery, Swarovski appliques, sequins, all glitz and glam are at home in my collection. Fresh neon green, bold red, purple, black, white, metallics are the colors of the future best events and parties.
Q: You had some really intricately detailed pieces come down the runway. Can you tell us a bit more about how you make such well-crafted garments?
My pieces are one-of- a kind or made in very small quantities. The client can preorder in their size or custom size or buy straight from the runway. I want to offer a personalized experience to the client. In a fast fashion world, I want to offer an alternative. Fast fashion, inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers is so wrong, so harmful for the planet but so loved by the majority of the population. As an independent New York designer, I want to create awareness of this harmful phenomenon and offer an alternative.
I want to be as close as I can to real couture fashion, to real “haute” couture. I know this name is so easily used by wanna-be “designers” that don’t even know what the word means or entails. When I say that I want to be as close as I can to crafting amazing designs like the “haute” couture, I totally know what that entails. I dedicated part of my life to creating unique patterns, creating high-end fashion design. I want to be anchored in reality though and create designs that are both amazingly beautiful and wearable.
Q: We read in your bio that you are also a painter. Can you tell us about how being a painter helps you as a fashion designer?
Yes, I am an artist to begin with. I am a visual artist that studied classical art and art history along with fashion design.I am multifaceted as an artist: I am a painter, a sculptor, a graafian creative director to name a few. I had many paintings exhibit in New York and Europe.
The closest to my heart is fashion design and to be a great fashion designer in my opinion you need to be all of the above plus to have a sense of business.
Q: How did the pandemic affect your design aesthetic, or did it?
Yes, the pandemic affected my design aesthetic. In February 2021 I showcased during NYFW a collection that was almost fully ready-to-wear, the most casual I designed so far. I didn’t give up on “being very exclusive,” but overall the collection was more casual.It was amazing, customers really liked it and pre ordered all the collections.
Q: Do you have any plans for your brand that our readers should know about?
Yes. I would like customers to feel more comfortable to support independent designers and understand the way of personalized shopping. My plans for the immediate future is to reinforce sales, to make the communication and transactions between the clients and designer more accessible. I just completed two major shows in one month: New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. The feedback was overwhelmingly good and I am so happy and blessed to be able to create and live my dream.
Looking forward to seeing you at next New York Fashion Week where I showcase every season for the last 10 years! Hopefully I will also showcase in Miami, LA and Milano in the near future.
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With love,
FWO
