Already during his first year of studies he began to sell his designs, and his graduation show was acknowledged by one of the most famous fashion critic - Suzy Menkes. Menkes also praised his debut collection Lucina, O!, which was shown at the London Fashion Week 2000. The theme of the collection was the childbirth - models smeared their white sculpture –like outfits with red paint. ‘It is the birth of a new millennium’ - wrote Menkes in the International Herald Tribune. Soon after, Arkadius while being a protégé of a stylist and fashion icon, Isabella Blow -entered a UK showrooms. His clothes were featured both in respectable Harpers Bazaar, as well as in avant-garde ID and The Face.
The most famous collections
Arkadius’s second glamorous collection The Queen of Sheeba was bought by Henri Blendel luxury department store in New York in a week. In the middle of this hype Arek from Parczew started longing for Poland and especially for his grandmother Paulina. Her name was used as the title of the spring / summer 2001 collection which was inspired by Polish province and folk culture. Arkadius was never ashamed of his background, his ‘bumpkinness’ and he emphasized in interviews that although he works in London he comes from the Polish countryside. As it turned out, Paulina not only reminisced Poland but it also ‘took’ Arkadius back to the country. The designer’s first show in Poland was held in the Femina cinema in Warsaw.
Nonetheless, Arkadius was still focused on London fashion market, and there he created subsequent collections: Prostitution, House of Pleasure and Mother Mary wears the trousers. Gaining an opinion of provocateur and artsy jester he kept on playing with religious symbols, sexuality and bourgeois hypocrisy.
In 2002, the designer opened his boutique at Porchester Place 7 which started to be frequented by Cezary Mielczarek - a young Polish businessman, who by and by encouraged Arkadius to return to Poland and launch a sub-label. Together, on May 2003, they opened a boutique at 49 Mokotowska Street under the aegis Arkadius Jeans Anarchy. The label was to offer a Prêt-à-Porter collection especially jeans and blouses, and advertised by slogans such as: fuck fashion, let's be anarchic. Arkadius also started to collaborate with Ravel jeans and Viva fashion magazine. Since then, anyone could afford a t-shirt with the image of Arkadius or his logo. Some considered this to be a devaluation of the brand and accused the shareholders of greed.
Simultaneously with undertakings in Poland Arkadius designed subsequent collections in the London studio. In the case of the United States of Mind his idea was to collide symbols of Western imperialism with eastern and Israeli culture. According to Arkadius his concept illustrated intersecting spheres of influence and conflicts, which by the same token he wanted to oppose. Therefore, the collection is made of fabrics with patterns of keffiyeh/arafat scarf (dresses), U.S. dollar sign (a tippet scarf), Muslim crescent moon (a suit), and American flag with stars of David symbols instead of regular stars. The show culminated in presentation of the asymmetrical white dress, the corset of which was decorated with two doves. Under one of them the dress was embellished with red feathers spreading downwards which evoked association with blood and thus an idea of bloody dove of peace. The show’s finale was selected by The Face magazine as the fashion highlight of the year 2003.
