CGD

The Out of Focus collection is built around contrast – between wearability and concept, body and object, between the traditional and the distorted, between perfect craftsmanship and freedom, the near and the far. Although as part of his BA project for the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague Šimon Žák designed a ready-to-wear collection, certain items rather function as artistic commentaries and ready-made objects – a wired sweater, shorts created by layering yellow tape, a folklore skirt of the Kyjov region made of denim and “air duct” tubes used as material for shoes referencing the “wrapped” boots of folk dress.

Why this crossover of folklore, voyeur aesthetics, brutalist materials, and the DIY poetics of decay? For Žák, the key source of inspiration is found in the works of photographer and artist Miroslav Tichý. Tichý was a unique artist and native of Kyjov (in fact, he was the neighbor of Šimon’s grandmother). In a sense, the city itself works as an unconscious archetype and contextual frame. Tichý’s semi-amateur, warped and decaying photographs are not a mere visual reference; rather, it is the photographer’s own personal work method (he made his own photo cameras) which serves as inspiration. Error, inaccuracy and deformation are considered valid creative tools. Such an approach gives free rein to Šimon Žák’s creativity. After three years spent in the Fashion and Footwear Design studio (he started under the supervision of Liběna Rochová and finished his BA with Simona Rybáková) and Erasmus at London’s Kingston University, he finally managed to deconstruct the established approach to clothing and explore it in entirely novel ways.

The collection is built around the tension between “rawness” and sophistication. While certain materials feel brutish (e.g. tape, wire, dead denim), others are hyper-chic in their use of premium textiles (wool, sequins, piping). For example, a pair of pants at first sight evokes the iconic striped Adidas sweatpants, but upon closer look they are in fact made from wool and the stripes from acetate fabric. The play of illusion and reinterpretation is essential for this collection, and styling is consciously used as another layer of storytelling which speaks about the tearing down of clothing conventions. We may also note the drive towards openness – both towards society and towards ourselves. If Šimon Žák continues to push his boundaries and unlock new spaces (whether as part of his MA studies at the IFM in Paris or as part of his new collections), we can soon expect a breakthrough in his career.

Jan Králíček