YFN Presents Lenca Stories-Brand Story, New Collection and more..

Full Collection

What was the inspiration behind this collection?

It all started with my fascination with surrealism. After reading about the movement and about the artists involved, I discovered that surrealists were influenced not only by Carl Jung, but also by one of his main subjects of interests: alchemy. However, the concept of alchemy was brought to a new, modern era, when people didn’t perceive it as a science of magic, but more as a philosophy, a way of exploring the mind. Following this path, I started to search for alchemical symbols that were used by surrealists, and I found Dali’s “Meditative Rose”. This painting was the visual starting point for my entire collection. In alchemy, the rose is a symbol of the opening of the heart to the revelation and experience of Devine Love. As the surrealists did, I used the symbol of the rose as a representation of the heart/soul and tried to represent the alchemical process as a journey inside the unconscious to find your true self and the pure love for your own soul. Everything I created for this collection followed literally the story above, from colors, textures, and shapes, to printed symbols. To help the whole creative process, I made a poem to guide me along my way.

“I picked a black ROSE from my garden,

And burned it along with my body,

I picked a white ROSE from the ashes,

And dissolved it with my pain in ether,

I picked a red ROSE from my heart,

And threw it up to the sky,

I tried to pick a golden ROSE from the sun,

But I was blinded by the light and fell bacl to mz garden.

I picked a black ROSE from my garden,

……………………………………………..”

Can you tell me about the color palette you chose and why?

The color palette represents all the steps from the alchemical process of turning metal into gold, or in my case the journey from the outside material world to the one true self: the blacks and browns are about the first process, Nigredo; this is the phase when prima materia begins to decompose or rot, reprezented by the element of earth and known as the „dark night of the soul” describing the moment when we are forced to confront all that is dark and difficult within ourselves, and let go of our attachment to our shadow; whites and light blues are part of the second phase, Albedo, known also as the conjunction that requires us to become comfortable with the apparent duality of our being and discover within ourselves a state of being where eros and logos united. Reds symbolizes the red phase, Rubedo, which completes the alchemical process by making the white sterile matter come alive again. The first six looks were created and presented following this exact order of colors with the seventh one coming as a result of the entire practice above. For my last look I chose gold to represent the Philosopher’s Stone, the light, that is hidden deep down in our soul, in our unconscious.

Can you share any inresting details about the craftsmanship or techniques used in creating these desgins?

It was my first time playing with multiple techniques in order to create new textures and fabrics. I loved to use different molds to create accesories, and to create new fabrics such as sewing beaded fringes to create movement or wrapping an entire blazer with golden textile foil. It was fun for me to experiment again in such a creative way (after making only commercial collections). But my favourite thing, by far, was creating digital prints and placing them on my patterns to create surreal silhouettes.

Do you have a favorite look?

Yes! It’s the fifth look, the clouds printed dress with red roses on the belt. This was the first piece I created and every other look was inspired by the pattern of this dress.

How would you describe the overall aesthetic of this collection in three words?

SURREAL, SERENE, METAMORPHIC

Check them out here !!