Memories transformed into beautiful clothes: a short talk with Mario Birdean, MDVTM 2023 

I really think that every outfit should have a story. A funny one, an emotional one, a cool one, an unusual one, a story for the teller or a story for those who watch… That’s the detail that makes an outfit to be remembered, and that is the item that will be worn over and over again. 
Therefore, I was so happy to see Mario Birdean beautiful jackets from “The Memory of Something I have Seen”, presented at MDVTM Fashion gala 2023, a collection inspired by his father and his grief. I talked with the young designer about inspiration, experiences, sustainability and recycling old things with history that become new outfits. 

*** #FashionBlogger #FashionTrend #RomanianDesigner #English

Find Mario Birdean on Instagram at @mariobirdean. 
About all the collections presented at MDVTM 2023 gala – READ HERE. 

Your collection “The Memory of Something I have Seen” for MDVTM Fashion 2023 was inspired by… 
The memory of my late father. The collection is an homage paid to him. By transposing my feelings towards the loss, I opted for the Victorian Era, a time where modern mourning rituals were born, as a visual inspiration, as well as the work of the Japanese avant-garde designer Yohji Yamamoto. The clothes carry traces of past experiences, the memories of people that we have loved and lost…

 You choose those fabrics because…
They already had memories in them. The project began with the deconstruction of my late father’s jackets. Afterwards I added other thrifted ones, all of them black. To compliment the monochrome upcycled tone, I added different transparencies and depths of black textures, like satin, velvet, tulle, feathers, etc.

If you can define your collection with only one word, that would be… 
Grief. 

Your first love encounter with the fashion world was…
When I was a kid. For as long as I can remember, I was attracted to the fashion world. But my first actual love encounter with the fashion world took place in 2020, when I started studying fashion design at The West University of Timișoara.

The piece that will always be in your future collections will be… 
Probably a vest. There is always room for a vest layering.

We can find you on… Instagram at Mario Birdean – @mariobirdean. 

Photography: Bogdan Marchevca –  @marchevca.event.ph, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marchevca.event.photography

Thank you @iuliustowntimisoara for support!