Natasha Zinko: finding balance between decadence and fantasy

Natasha Zinko: finding balance between decadence and fantasy

Natasha Zinko is a London-based fashion and jewelry designer.

She was born in Odessa, Ukraine and studied law in her early life, but soon changed and attended fashion design at the prestigious Central Saint Martins, where she learned the basics of jewellery design.

Zinko later created her own jewellery brand and ready-to-wear clothes for women.

“Jewellery design always comes through my emotions and feelings. I believe that jewellery could have a protective power, like a charm. Designing jewellery, you are thinking 3D on a smaller scale, while making clothes gives you the opportunity to play with bigger dimensions. Clothing is always inspired by my day-to-day life and surroundings.” She argued in one of the first interviews for the british television.

The collections of the Ukrainian designer Natasha Zinko are born in London but tell of Slavic origins, international influences and references to art. Designed for a woman who plays with styles and genres, they present fun combinations of materials and colors.

The result is a look balanced between decadence and fantasy, feminine and masculine, shapes and contrasting colors. A collection of beautiful, architecturally crafted pieces that play with proportions via fluted sleeves and dramatic flared hems.

Natasha Zinko didn’t look far for inspiration: images of queues of people across London inspired the rainbow of colors and mishmash of styles and textures in her fall collection.

“I like the idea of a group of random people coming together for the same purpose — everyone looks different and you can really see the variety. That’s why the casting was so different, too, and we mixed models with people we found on our Instagram,” Zinko said in the backstage of her last fashion show.

The street references were strong throughout, in cool pastel pink puffers patched with denim; printed tracksuits featuring photographs Zinko took at Hyde Park over the holiday period; or deconstructed, raw-edged denim.

The London-based Ukraine designer has developed a vocabulary of her own: a blend of these more traditionally feminine silhouettes with streetwear, which often comes in cozy fleece and ironic logos written in Cyrillic.

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