INTERVIEW WITH RONDO FASHION AWARD WINNER LARISSA FALK
NEUBAU EYEWEAR is proud partner of the Rondo Fashion Award 2021 by University of Applied Arts Vienna. This year's winner is Larissa Falk, who convinced the jury with her graduation collection ALIENATION. In her graduation collection Larissa questions female body images and subverts the traces of the male gaze with her designs.
We talked to Larissa about her collections, sources of inspiration, challenges and sustainability.
What does it mean to you being awarded with the “Rondo Fashion Award 2021”?
I am very grateful to be able to present my graduate collection in Rondo Magazine to a wider range of people. Through that, I hope to reach even more people who feel connected to the topics I am questioning, in order to rethink, be more confident and more proud of themselves. Furthermore, sponsoring is a great opportunity to support my future plans.
What message do you want to convey with your latest collection?
I want to foreground the fact that women of any age should be proud of revealing their skin and should not feel ashamed of not being 'perfect', 'artificial', or flat. My collection is a commentary on the exposure of the hidden female body. I want to encourage women to be proud and feel attractive at any age. Revealing skin and body should not be a matter of age but rather of awareness of why and for whom.
Where do you find inspiration?
Often, I find inspiration very randomly or intuitively. It can be during daily routines, conversations, while watching a movie, listening to music, or attending an exhibition. Also, the making process is often leading me to new inspirations.
Which collection are you most proud of and why?
My previous collection ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ was an important starting point for my graduate collection. Within this collection, I started to focus on questioning the female performativity, power structures, the fetishization of the female body, and reflected on my childhood. This allowed me to deepen my ideas and concept for my graduate collection ‘ALIENATION’ to create a more holistic approach.
Why did you choose to become a fashion designer?
From a very young age I was interested in making clothes, at the age of 14 I decided to move from the countryside in Styria to Graz in order to be able to attend a fashion school. Therefore, I gained knowledge in sewing and pattern techniques, which was very helpful during my studies.
What is or was your biggest design challenge?
The starting point of every collection is quite challenging, to decide on one idea, and to develop it further in various ways. But the biggest challenge is to convey a concept through the collection and to have it recognizable for the viewer.
What does sustainability mean to you and how can you incorporate that into your work?
Within my working process, I try to reuse toiling materials. I am focused as well on mainly working with deadstock materials in order to create less waste. Nevertheless, I also have a critical point of view on the use of the word sustainability, since it is so often used wrongly as a marketing strategy.
What do you expect from the future?
I don’t have any specific expectations at the moment, but I am looking forward to various professional opportunities, whether it is starting my own label, a collaborative studio, or working for someone.
