Their collections are – as they say – a mixture of so many inspirations that it would be hard to find the most important ones. The intention is to lead where the viewer wants to go. The authors don’t like to explain what they mean.
In their 2015/16 autumn/winter collection you can find eskimo hats, furs that look as if they were sewn from parts of a tepee, the atmosphere of an Indian shop and an exotic market, an aura of Game of Thrones and science-fiction films, ethnic patterns from Asia in elegant pastels, references to the forms of armour and chain mail. In their previous collection (spring/summer 2015) we had fringes, esoteric elements, stains of paint from an atelier, shiny fabric with mysterious Egyptian and Celtic patterns, ethereal patchworks, and sporty dresses adorned with weird words – as it turned out, taken from the personal dictionaries of the designers and their collaborators. Rat Salad (spring/summer 2014) was inspired by prison tattoos, and also by previous ODIO graphic works. They created streetwear with decorative applications made of metallic scales, pressings and a fragmented shine; gold, metallic silver, holographs. When it comes to patterns, Pieczarkowski and ODIO are inspired by KTZ (to the extent that some that some accused them of copying). The primary motif of the collection was occultism.
Everything started very simply – with printed T-shirts. On one of them there was a tiger in a necklace and a tiara, on another – a dove of peace, a laurel wreath and a diamond, on yet another – an anatomical heart. Their T-shirts and blouses sold very well.
Jakub lives in Bałuty, Łódź, and isn’t tempted by Warsaw – he feels free in his own neighbourhood. He can design his own, non-commercial collections, because for a few months each year he works on costumes for the TV series 997. He earns his living dressing up TV killers and thieves. Ola works in a graphic studio, and she’s a wife and a mother.
When they started working as a duo, they decided to make three collections, and that each following one should always be more complicated, fuller, richer in inspirations and details than the previous one, until a true horror vacui was reached. Rat Salad was only an introduction or a fitting – many prints on cotton with an air of formal simplicity. They started experimenting with fabric later on. It’s hard not to think of horror vacui, looking at the autumn/winter 15/16 collection – it seems as if no spot on the fabric escaped some pattern, tear or cut.
Author: Karolina Sulej, translated by: N. Mętrak-Ruda, December 2015.