I felt very privileged to have had the chance to meet Andrzej from House of Ezis and it was quite an experience wandering around his open space studio chatting about his conceptual ideas on fashion. He is such a fascinating and passionately artistic guy, aloft in deep thought but also very down to earth in an authentically Australian way. That’s why I had to share this interview with you guys. I could have talked with Andrzej about fashion and art for hours and here is just a little of what we spoke about.
-How would you explain the Ezis aesthetic?
Pure, timeless, structured-fluidity.
-What do you think about when you design?
I think through bodily movement, gesture and response to the specifics of material, place and people.
-What is beauty to you?
Natural forces expressing themselves through physical form, followed by judgment.
-What is fashion to you?
In my opinion fashion goes beyond clothing. Fashion is the most intimate physical layer that extends from our bodies; it should reflect inner sensibilities while countering physical outer conditions imposed by the social other. If fashion fails to do this, we risk having repetition and cloning, loosing a grip of our identities as creative individuals.
-What projects have you got on the go right now?
After starting my fashion label 7 years ago, and having run my own retail store for 4 years, I am about to launch an on-line shop that will feature the ‘HOUSE OF EZIS classics’ ready-to-wear collection. In March I begin to teach Interior Design at the Queensland University of Technology, focusing on methods of making strange spaces for our bodies to inhabit. Making-strange, or ‘enstrangement’ is a concept developed in literary theory by Victor Shklovsky in 1917. It explores ways of de-contextualising our familiar perspective and automatic behaviors, to awaken us from our sleep-being, bringing us nearer to our true-selves while revealing authentic being-in-the-world (Heidegger, 1927). In June I will be presenting this practice-led research (in collaboration with Marissa Lindquist) at a symposium in London. The presentation will feature an exploration of organic edible materials utilized as a form of veiling human form. The collection, titled ‘The Edible Veil of the Sensible Being’, will be showcased at the Venice Biennale ‘Architectural Formations’ exhibition later in the year, which brings me back to my background and training in architecture. Meanwhile, on a weekly basis, I explore my own theoretical work ‘The Unit: Collections of Movement’, through a series of live design sessions with models that are documented through photography.
