Innovative and conceptual collections, with a kind of hidden image that can’t be seen at first glance. Adél Zsigmond’s garments can function as casual attire, formal wear or even as a form of artistic self-expression, it’s only up to us how we would like to wear them at the given moment. Interview!
Adél Zsigmond is a true explorer, a traveler type of person: she graduated at the Department of Textile Design of Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca, and after having lived in Prague, Dublin, Budapest, Lithuania and Norway, she founded her clothing brand trademarked by her own name on 2017.
You went a long way before establishing the Adél Zsigmond brand. What led you to found your own company?
During my university studies, I not only gained professional experience, but also found myself in situations that resulted in great lessons for the future. During the foreign grants, I could learn at well-equipped universities, where I had almost everything needed for implementing the creative and innovative projects at hand. In Prague, I saw how hard the students work, how easy-going they can be after work, and how inclusive and welcoming they are. In Budapest, I could learn various techniques and I also improved my theoretical knowledge, while I Dublin I admired their strange fashion, and created innovative materials at the university with novel technologies.
After I finished by studies at the university, I moved back home to Miercurea Ciuc, and suddenly I had no idea what to do next. Then, based on the recommendation of one of my friends, I found myself in Gyárfás Oláh’s workshop, who just became the designer of the PATZAIKIN brand, and he asked me to join him as co-designer. One of our major projects was creating the uniforms of the Romanian team for the London 2012 Olympic Games. During this time, I also got an insight into workshop secrets, I could see good and bad solutions for various problems. It was edifying to see in live how a designer workshop works with local employees. It was like the missing piece of the puzzle allowing me to see the viability of my own clothing design workshop realistically.