Sofia Winski

Excerpts from an Interview with the Designer

Recorded on: Feb 20 2023 and March 22 2023

Tell me about your collection!

The idea is kind of a commentary on how behind violence and warfare, there’s greed. It's a critique of how the pursuit of wealth can be a powerful motivator that drives people to acquire it through whatever means necessary- even if that means resorting to unethical behavior that elicits conflict or exploits others. So, my collection’s going to be a combination of military motifs along with elements would be associated with signs of wealth. 

What parts of the process have you gone through so far?

I’ve created the initial design. We’ve done mood boards, trend boards, and color boards. And I also have all my sketches done. In order to narrow down what we actually wanted to do, we made 30 sketches, and from there, we consulted with our professors to try to figure out which ones were the best. I have those finished, and I have a pretty good idea of where I’m going, now I just need to motivate myself to start making my patterns.

What inspired your collection?

I had a lot that I wanted to do with my collection. I wanted it to say something, and a lot of my other ideas were kind of just like, “I wanted to do this because it's pretty...”. I wanted my collection to be significant to me with an issue that I care about. And I’m aware that, at least for a while [working in the fashion industry], you don’t get that much creative reign, and you don’t always get the opportunity just to like make your own collection from scratch. And so, with my collection, that’s what I want to do, with my complete creative reign - is to make something that actually is important.


When I showed my classmates my concept board I was so happy when they were able to get what the message of the collection was. It was confirmation to me like, “okay, this is good, and it will be able to translate to an audience - without spoon-feeding what the message is to them.”.


How do you balance creating for an audience and self-expression?

It can definitely be difficult finding the balance between appealing to your audience and self expression. Fashion is a form of self expression where there is almost always bound to be an audience seeing what you wear. From a designer’s perspective, fashion differs from other art in the sense that you do have to create with other people’s needs and preferences in mind in order to make something marketable. With that being said, I think it’s still much more important to design according to your personal vision. What you create might not be for everyone, but the right audience will love it and respect your authenticity.


What challenges have you been experiencing?

All the designs that you see on the fabric are hand-drawn and hand-painted. The biggest challenge so far has been creating those drawings because it can be very time consuming.. Also it hurts my hand!  

What is fashion to you?

Fashion allows an artist to express their ideas and creativity in an outward and wearable way. I love fashion because it gives us the ability to blend art and utility; it is a unique medium because it is an essential part of all of our lives.