Mirjana Josifoska, designer: The use of materials of natural origin is part of the DNA of my brand

Mirjana Josifoska / Photo: Antonio Stankov/Frozen Time Drops/Private archive

Some fashion accessories have a special place in history. Thus, hats, whose primary idea was to protect people from the sun and rain, today are an important detail of the overall appearance of many and are still in fashion.

Mirjana Josifoska is the first Macedonian fashion designer who created her own brand consisting of uniquely hand-made hats, using artisanal techniques. These fashion accessories are sustainably designed and ethically produced in Macedonia, created from materials of natural origin or recycled textile material.

When did you start creating hats? Is it a spontaneous process or did you always know that this would be your profession?

– I first started by creating some hats for my first clothing collection called "Memory of a City", in order to complement the outfits. The process of designing and creating the hats was very interesting for me, so I decided that the next collection will be focused on hats. I always knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry and be a fashion designer, but designing hats started spontaneously and parallel to my design development.

Mirjana Josifoska / Photo: Private archive

The pieces you design are truly unique. Do you have a particular crafting technique and what goes into the choice of materials?

– The use of materials of natural origin or the reuse of textile waste are part of the DNA of my brand. Therefore, most of our hats are made from certified, Macedonian 100 percent wool. In addition to wool, we use materials of natural origin such as silk, linen, cotton and viscose. Another thing that makes our hats special is that they are decorated with silk or cotton thread studs, as opposed to polyester threads. In addition to the materials, we pay great attention to the handmade production of the hats. We cut the models in such a way that there is as little textile waste as possible. We recycled the rest of the waste from the first collection of hats and now use it to create strings for packing the hats. We use a special ironing technique with special moulds, in order to give the hats their distinctive hardness and structure.

Collection "Memorial of a city" / Photo by Antonio Stankov

Where do you draw inspiration from? How is the creative process and how long does it take to make a hat?

– I always draw inspiration from things that are personally close to me, such as events, persons, places or historical topics. In terms of fashion, I am influenced by Tom Ford for Gucci, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for D Rowe and Phoebe Philo for Celine, and in the field of design - Russian Constructivism and Bauhaus . After I determine an idea, the first and most important step is research, which I pay a lot of attention to. I initially research everything textual about the topic. From all the text, I extract key words, sentences and phrases and make a visual exploration of them. From all the visual material I try to extract the initial forms of the clothes. I begin to refine each initial sketch of a piece of clothing until I reach a technical drawing. After the design, the construction follows, where I create templates according to the technical drawings. I first sew a muslin prototype to see how the pattern shape will look, then create a prototype from the final garment material to see how the material will react. If everything is fine with the material, the prototype is sent to production. Making an existing hat design from start to finish takes 2 to 4 hours depending on the complexity of the design. When that model is produced in larger quantities, the production process is faster. Making a new hat model from a sketch to a final prototype takes 3 to 4 days.

Mirjana Josifoska / Photo: Private archive

Do you also design other pieces of clothing or are you specifically focused on just hats?

– Yes, I have also designed other pieces of clothing and I am currently working on an autumn/winter collection of clothing and fashion accessories. However, most of the clothes I design are more of an exhibition character, while the hats - of production and sales.

The Seven Collection / Photo: Frozen Time Drops, produced by Moden Weekend Skopje

Is there interest in designer hats in our country? What are buyers most interested in and where can they find your designer pieces?

- Before creating the first collection of hats, I did market research and found that there are no Macedonian producers of hats of natural origin. Therefore, I can say that our brand is the first Macedonian designer hat brand. There is a lot of interest in hats by women, but also men, children and teenagers. Buyers are most interested in the materials the hats are made of, as well as the size of the hats. That is why we make our models in 3 sizes: 56, 58 and 60 cm. Our designer pieces can be found on our social networks (Instagram, Facebook and TikTok), the "I Love Fashion Clothing Store" boutique in Tetovo and the conceptual online store "URMA". We are currently working on our website.

The Seven Collection / Photo: Frozen Time Drops, produced by Moden Weekend Skopje 2

What are your plans for the future?

– In a few days, our summer/resort collection of hats and fashion accessories "Lavander Fields" should be released, while we are also working on the autumn/winter 2022-23 collection. Our plans for the future are to continue creating two collections per year, with a focus on hats, headbands, scarves and similar fashion accessories. Our current goal is to increase our participation in the Macedonian market and to start participating in the Balkan market.

The Seven Collection / Photo: Frozen Time Drops, produced by Moden Weekend Skopje

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