Sara Griguța – a new voice, artist at Diploma Show 2023 

As the following designer says, “the fashion world is an amazing world where you could be whoever you want whenever you want, a world where you could design your own different story and persona every single day”. Therefore, Fashion Design chapter of Diploma Show 2023 is the place to find your future #fashioncrushes. Look closely at the new generation of young Romanian fashion designers and their interesting collections. Today, from the Fashion Design chapter of Diploma Show 2023, I present you Sara Andreea Griguța. 

#FashionBlogger #FashionTrend #RomanianDesigner #English

• Follow Sara Griguța – @_griguta. Sara is the alumni of UAD Fashion – read here about the generation of 2023. 
• Diploma Show 2023 – 7-15 octombrie 2023 – programme on Facebook page for DIPLOMA, here. Info on – Instagram and website.

What is the definition of fashion, from your point of view? What does it mean to you, personally?

The definition that I would give to fashion, and a definition that I think many people would relate to, would be this: fashion is a creative and awesome way of  expressing yourself and showing your personality through clothes. An amazing world where you could be whoever you want whenever you want, a world where you could design your own different story and persona every single day. 

And from an even more personal point of view, even though, I know it is going to sound a bit cliché, for me, fashion really is my life. I simply can’t imagine my life without fashion and I guess this is because, since I was a little kid, I was always very connected to fashion. My mom is the one who introduced me to it, she as always been passionate about fashion, she has never worked in the field or something, but I remember her always being very invested in anything related to it. She always tried to somehow follow the trends while still not really sticking to them, by always looking for really special and original pieces that will forever stand out. She has also always been very passionate about creating, from hand sewing, to embroidery, crocheting, or knitting, it has always been her biggest hobby and ever since I can remember, she has been working on different projects in her free time. 

I guess this is how I was introduced  and connected to to this amazing fashion world from a very early age and I am more than sure that this close connection was what made me fall in love with fashion more and more everyday. It always fascinated me how any idea could be transformed into something real, the possibilities were endless and I really loved the fact that whenever you couldn’t find something very specific in a certain shop, you could just create it yourself. I loved how  you could always express your emotions trough fashion (as I already pointed in the first definition), change your attitude and your mood by just putting on a certain look and I guess that all these things made me realise that fashion was the only thing that I wanted to do. 

That’s how I started sketching a lot of ideas, a lot of “collections”, mannequins and stylings as a small kid. I remember how I was always doodling something fashion related during almost any course in school. It was and still is always very funny to me to remember those days, I used to be a really great student, quiet and calm and I always had good grades but even though I never disturbed during classes, I remember some teachers were upset about me drawing. At the beginning of every year we used to always have some new teachers, they didn’t know us yet and they tended to think that me drawing meant I was ignoring them and not paying attention, which was not the case, the sketching always relaxed me and made me always keep my concentration during certain courses. 

My teachers would all eventually realise that after they knew me better and after seeing many times that I was indeed, one of the very few that actually listened to them and answered their questions whenever it was needed. This is the reason why I said that for me personally, fashion is really a part of me, almost like a extension of my persona, something that really defines me and my whole life since the very beginning and something that I could not imagine my life without. I really cannot think of a period where fashion was not present in my life somehow, for me it’s something that’s always been there “with me” or “in me”, in every single memory and I really can not imagine how different my life would have been without it.

What is the biggest challenge for a young designer nowadays?

Nowadays, in the so called digital era, with all the technology, social platforms and absolutely everything and everyone being online, I think one of the biggest challenge for a young designer is to become and stay relevant in this world. By this I am not denying the fact that this is probably also the best era to actually be seen. This online world gives us an extremely helpful push into the real fashion world, without all this exposure it would be way more complicated to be remarked in the field and in the actual real world, it is easier than ever to be promoted and seen by others but that’s also were the paradox starts. 

The fact that we are bombed with tons and tons of information and visuals continuously on a daily basis subconsciously puts us in a state where all we want to do is to keep seeing more and more, which as a consequence, makes us easily forget about what we have just seen a few seconds ago and wonder about what we’ll be seeing next, downplaying in this way, the content of what we see. I’m sure most of us can relate to this, we’ve all been there sometimes, scrolling on Instagram looking for nothing specifically, we keep on scrolling till we see something that really catches our eye, we look at it for a few seconds, appreciate it or get amused by it and probably, unless it’s something really unique, interesting and inspiring, we just forget about it and scroll down quite fast to keep seeing other things. 

This is the reason why I somehow consider this a challenge for us young designers. Nowadays, everything is already invented, done or seen; there are truly very few things that haven’t been seen before, very few real and raw original ideas that no one has ever exploited before, therefore being so unique and original that someone would remark you from the rest is extremely hard. 

With everyone being online and present out there right now, with so many people seen, just in the exact same way as you are being seen, with emerging talents and the constant and fast change, I think it is quite challenging to stay relevant. 

Tell us why we should look for your pieces at Diploma Show 2023.

The pieces showcased at Diploma Show 2023 are part of my collection ALHAM. A collection extremely personal and meaningful to me, tied to my roots and experiences and a collection full of re-interpreted and re-contextualized Spanish & Islamic traditional and cultural references that will see peeking through the garments. 

The collection showcases prints and structures inspired by Islamic architecture and mural sculpture, as well as silhouettes and cuts inspired by traditional Spanish costumes. Alham is a collection of relatively classic and simple cut pieces that stand out thanks to their sophisticated details, their materiality, hand embroidery and woven & knotted structures. 

Everything in the collection was fully made by me, even every single piece of hand embroidery and the knotted structures where manually made with different innovative materials in order to achieve some timeless yet modern, versatile and specially, unique pieces that any woman at any age, could wear. 

Alham was a very exigent project that required a lot of attention to details, time and patience and I would love everyone to check it out at Diploma Show 2023 in order to see the intricate work that’s put behind every single piece. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity of showcasing my pieces at such a prestigious show as Diploma Show and I can’t wait for you all to see the collection! I really hope Alham will get to everyone’s heart!

The perfect fashion item for you is… Why?

This is quite a difficult question honestly, as there are more that one items that I really love and consider to be crucial in everyone’s closet, but right now, I would probably say a nice, crisp, white shirt. 

Personally I find myself looking for a nice shirt almost every time I’m planing an outfit, I really love its versatility. I love how you can style the exact same shirt in extremely different ways, looks & aesthetics and still make it look different and fresh everytime. I really love how you can include a classic white shirt in almost any type of styling and it would always work out and look nice, the possibilities are truly endless; you can be formal, casual, punkish or even sporty, while still wearing the same piece and I think that’s really awesome.

In addition to  this, I’ve always been a strong believer that “quality over quantity “ is the way to go, especially when talking about clothing, shoes & accessories and the way I see it, investing in a great quality piece specially nowadays is the right choice. From my point of view (a sustainable point of view), we should always try to adopt this thinking into our lives, we should always make the responsible choice and seek for quality products that would serve us for ages. 

Going back to our shirt, choosing a high quality one would not only provide us a timeless white shirt (something that might seem boring to some), but also a staple piece with infinite new styling possibilities every single time.

So if you haven’t already fallen in love with shirts, just give it a try and I’m sure you’ll be pleasingly surprised by its potential.

What is next, for you, this year? Collections, personal projects, exhibitions etc.

I am definitely going to continue pursuing my dream of working in the fashion world, I will keep on working on myself, learning about this industry everyday, I will keep on polishing and perfecting myself and my qualities while I keep pushing myself to always get out of my comfort zone in order to become better and better in what I do every single day.

I would really like to have the opportunity of gaining experience and expertise in the filed while working for a fashion brand and I will as well, love to start building and working on my personal brand and collections in the meantime. 

For now, this is all I can say, I guess we never know what the future will bring us but I am more than grateful for how things have worked out lately and I am more than open to any collaboration or project!

You can also check out my profile at https://www.behance.net/saraandreeagriguta , where you can also see some of my other projects!