It is light, thin, soft and is said to be machine washable. Designed by young Zagreb fashion designer Sara Lončarić, made by architect Jurica Huljev
The first ever dress and coat made from concrete was created without fanfare in the silence of the Zagreb studio of Jurica Huljev, architect and world renowned expert in modern concrete and his niece, fashion designer Sara Lončarić, reported Dblog.
“Wait, the dress is really made from concrete and it is lightweight? I mean how light can it be? It must be some sort of armour? What do you mean it has buttons and can be worn as a shirt?,” asked Boba Blašković, the blogger behind Dblog.
She sent a dozen more questions to fashion designer Sara Lončarić when she mentioned she made a concrete dress.
The 26-year-old Sara Lončarić entered a fashion contest for young designer Ferrari Fashion in Rome last year. Usually up to a thousand young designers apply from around the world. This is why Sara, Zagreb-based designer with exclusive feminine clothing, made from fine, expensive materials, decided to do something completely different for Rome, unexpected. Instead of silk and cashmere she decided to go to Rome with concrete, and instead of using a sewing machine, she head to the concrete factory.
“My uncle makes miracles form concrete and for years I wondered what else could be made from it. When I was notified that I passed the initial selection and am invited to Rome, I immediately had an idea – let’s do a real experiment and the first concrete clothing in the world. My uncle, architect Jurica Huljev, liked the idea very much as he loves experiments, moving established boundaries and naturally loves concrete. Although there was very little time, we shut ourselves in his studio and began to experiment, mixing concrete,” recalls Sara, owner of the fashion label Blackpearl.
“Sara and my sister Marina went around town getting various fabrics and I compiled recipes and made concrete. The task was to make a dress that would be light, folding and behave as a normal fabric so a model in Rome could wear it normally. In fact it all had to seem quite normal, except being made form concrete. We really kicked up some dust those days. On some fabrics the concrete cracked, on some it bent, on some it peeled, or was too heavy… But we succeeded in finding a recipe and found two suitable fabrics which enabled us the desired structure, look, characteristic,” said Jurica Huljev from the Synthesis company.
“In Rome everyone was fascinated. Not one expected something so experimental and different, I entered the contest finals and the first prize eluded me by a hair. But, our goal was complete. We proved that human will, desire, perseverance, knowledge, effort can move boundaries and we can create truly innovative things,” says Sara, adding concrete clothes could find its use in theatre and film costumes.
See the video from the photo shoot with Croatian model Kristina Šalinović, videography by Filip Filković Philatz.
For the original and more from DBLOG, click here.
