RDW Young Design 2025: meet #fashiondesigner Alexa Crîșmăreanu

“I tried to put into words (and clothing, for that matter) something I have been going through for some time, and I think every one of us went through — that being the state of total confusion and fear of growing up”, says Alexa Crîșmăreanu, one of the young designers from RDW Young Design 2025 Edition. I talked to her about fashion, plans and how can a young designer could make herself visible in the crowd. 

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Romanian Design Week 2025 – between 16th and 25th of May at Cina (Benjamin Franklin nr.10) – www.romaniandesignweek.ro – About the whole program & exhibitions – HERE. 
See Alexa Crîșmăreanu works on – @alexacrismareanu. 

Tell me more about your collection / the work presented at RDW – the name, the theme, the moodboard, the man (or woman) is destined to. 

So the full name is pretty long. It’s “The Exploration of Identity, Acceptance and Continuing Development, the Spontaneity and Confusion of Growth”. It’s this long because it is the official title of my B.A. project. Here, I tried to put into words (and clothing, for that matter) something I have been going through for some time, and I think every one of us went through — that being the state of total confusion and fear of growing up.
I tried to find ways to express things like the deepest “I miss my mom” that we feel when we first move away to college, the deepest “artist block” and the uselessness that comes with it — and how things like this somehow drive us to be better people because of the constant state of questioning oneself, finding answers, and keeping on moving forward.
I decided to go with big, voluminous pieces to try and represent a kid in adult clothes. I chose to deconstruct them, subtract from and add to them, trying to convey a state of uneasiness — of not knowing exactly what is wrong, but knowing there is something not quite how it should be.
In regards to fabrics and prints, I used sturdy and textured materials alongside soft, flowy ones to represent the layers we have as people. Regarding the clothes, they were made with the much-appreciated help of my mentor and friend, Alex Moldovan. The bonnets were added for the purpose of covering more of the person wearing the look — as did the tights and the long-sleeve bodysuit. The shoes were made in collaboration with Mihaela Glăvan. I wanted to keep them pretty simple — I mostly went for the “old worn socks” look.
This is not a collection meant to be worn; it was a project in which, as I previously stated, I tried to put feelings into words. So as far as the person wearing it — it was designed with no specific person in mind.

How difficult is to make yourself visible in the crowd? Let’s face it, there are dozens of alumni every year from universities, dozens of small Romanian designers and… a lot of fast forward fashion options? What’s your strength? 

It is difficult, and I don’t think I’ve mastered that just yet. To be frank, I don’t know what to do to be seen, or how to put myself out there. Maybe there is a recipe for that, and I haven’t found it yet. I’m not the type of person who can comfortably talk to people I don’t know, so the whole “making myself visible in the crowd” thing is something I don’t have the right answer to right now. I just keep working passionately and hard, because for sure there are at least a couple of people who will genuinely appreciate and be interested in what I do. This is my driving force — something I keep telling myself.

How was your debut in the fashion world? The first love? And the story after that moment? 

My debut was at the UAD Fashion Show, where I presented the first three looks from this collection. It was amazing seeing the pieces worn for the first time — they looked exactly the way I dreamed about, but better. I got so emotional I couldn’t think straight for the rest of the day. After that came the ELLE shooting — something I couldn’t dream of doing up until that point. And then came Diploma, which again, I never thought I would be participating in, since it was one of my biggest motivations for working. Seeing the Diploma expo back in 2019 for the first time, I was fascinated and kept telling myself that I would keep on working to get there.

After this collection, what is next for you? Collection / plans do you have in mind? 

I will be participating at the Academia Competition at Romanian Creative Week with a new collection on the 23rd of May. After that, I will finish my Master’s at UAD, which will imply a new collection — and after that, we will see what’s waiting for me.

Photography: Alexa Crîșmăreanu.