The collection is diversified by its materials: silk, muslin, jacquard cloth, knitwear, and thin wool.
Hawrot’s fascination with kimonos and the Japanese approach to fashion comes back in each of her collections. Two years after Ashita came Hiroko – a tale of an urban warrior woman, featuring regular geometric shapes mixed with asymmetry, wool mixed with silk, smooth textures mixed with prints, and heavy kimonos contrasted with openwork design. Once again, it is multi-functional and composed of many elements.
Joanna jokes that Japanese people would surely shake their heads in disbelief if they were to see her interpretation of a kimono, but then again, ultimately the point is to transcribe its form, not copy it. In Hawrot’s opinion there is nothing more comfortable and stylish for everyday wear than a well-fitted kimono that can be worn as a bath robe, a dress, a coat, or a cape as well as beach wear. In June 2015, there was a presentation of her kimonos along with Sonia Hensler’s drawings.
Kinbaku (Japanese bondage) dresses and blouses have also become extremely popular amongst clients. Kinbaku is the art of erotic tight binding, a tradition reaching all the way back to the Japanese Edo period. Hawrot translates this into garment solutions and a loving relationship with fashion. Her kinbaku is composed of three intertwined sashes – white, black and navy blue in Japanese cranes. The sashes can be tied in a number of ways, they can also be intertwined in various colour combinations, according to personal preference.
Author: Karolina Sulej, July 2015, Translated by: Zuzanna Wiśniewska