Jivomir Domoustchiev is a designer whose boundary-pushing approach to fashion manifests itself in exciting and exceptional pieces that transcend the worlds of art and fashion. Pieces made from vegan vinyl that are characterized by the designer’s signature structural silhouettes and dramatic dimensions. Traffic-stopping designs imbued with a futuristic sensibility that demonstrate the unapologetic escapism and liberating fantasy that clothing can bring to our lives.
Deconstructing and reforming ideas of what fashion should be and should look like, his is a visual vocabulary that fully merits the oft-used term wearable art. With work that transforms garments into canvases that speak to us, evoking emotions and challenging conventional notions of style, his is a shape-shifting aesthetic that’s been embraced by those most iconic of icons, Gaga, Xtina and Nicki Minaj.
We had the opportunity to bask in that artistic vision this Summer when Art Director Youyou Zhou invited us to attend a wholly immersive fashion event and cultural experience entitled RE/CREATE. One of an eclectic cohort of carefully curated designers showing under the RE/CREATE banner, Jivomir’s creations entranced us across dual show locations, the serenity of St John’s Church in Hyde Park and the bustling rush-hour pavements of central London.
After the show Jivomir spoke to us about his influences and inspirations, the challenges facing independent designers in the current climate and his ambitions and aspirations for the future.
For those who may be new to the world of Jivomir Domoustchiev, can you tell us about your background and what the catalyst was for founding your eponymous fashion label?
I studied fashion at London College of Fashion but really from day one I was lucky enough to be working in the industry so rarely went into college. I felt real life experience was priceless and 1 had to follow every opportunity that arose. I think the catalyst was designing for a small independent brand that was based at the legendary Hyper Hyper. I had started off as a sales assistant and was quickly offered the opportunity to design and really mold the collections they sold. It was an amazing time, we had Patricia Fields come in and just buy the whole collection for her store. Only later would I understand what that whole time and experience really was, a truly incredible introduction to fashion.
Hyper Hyper was full of micro independent brands, next to us was Sign Of The Times, a boutique which stocked Pam Hogg and McQueen, I mean first collection McQueen. Every day our peers would randomly walk in to shop and research and we would be mesmerized. I remember Gaultier and Walter Van Beirendonck coming by many times. These were the days when people would come in and buy an outfit for the weekend to go to one of the legendary clubs like Billion Dollar Babes and, when I arrived, the end of Kinky Gerlinky. Each design there would be super limited edition before the High Street dumbed down fashion, and I guess what we’re coming back to now seeing the value in exclusivity and minor brands.
When I graduated and was asked to close our college show which of course made me feel special and after meeting Vanessa Denza the legendary fashion agent she got me my dream job in Belgium which sadly for reasons that were out of my control I was unable to take, which frustrated me. I became a stylist and what followed was many years of styling, being Editor and founder of a number of magazines and styling a lot of recording artists. I saw the world and changed parts of it as I went along.
How would you describe your artistic vision and what inspires it?
I’m inspired by so many things, everything really. Life if you’re lucky enough to be healthy is beautiful, there is beauty all around us. Yes, we are all over stressed but if you are able to slow your breath you can see the beauty around us. I particularly love architecture and automatic design, but more retro car design. It seems a lot of current car design is done by algorithms and focus groups and not a love and passion, I guess like a lot of fashion. It seems AI has already taken over and designing people’s collections or at least on the high-end commercial level a group discussion of what will sell.
I understand of course we’re all in such a difficult time reliant on some form of commerciality to survive and even just to function. As for artistic vision, I fight internally every moment to create, I have to create, it’s like the need to breathe. But, I also endlessly as much as it hurts to have to think about it, have to know what will sell so I can be able to buy my materials to continue to pay my bills. But really, I have an inner drive that has endless ideas every day, some of which I’m able to express and most happen in the toiling and experimentation stage, a culmination of all that you have learnt and experienced until that point in time.
Congratulations on showing as part of the RE/CREATE platforms recent London fashion show. What attracted you to working with the platform and how exciting was it appearing with such an eclectic cohort of designers?
It was great to be invited to be part of the show, very unexpected, it came two weeks after I had done a show in NYC which was a dream come true but in New York I did more of a kink show. It was shown in a club as part of a Torture Garden event and for the kinksters of NYC so needed to be broken down more with pure sex.
Back home in London I wanted to do a couture show with many elements of my archive layered and overdressed as an artistic form of pure expression, perfectly placed in the Church environment and then even more excitingly on the street outside Selfridges for the public. I have always wanted to show on the street in a pure real-life environment. My work came alive and in reality, it is there to inspire and make people think and show individuality and allow people to be themselves. By showing on the street that makes more sense than in a room full of journalists. Fashion lives in the clubs, it lives in the streets, it shouldn’t be elitist and hidden. With these shows we achieved all of that and without that platform it would be near impossible for me to put together a show as the costs involved compared to the return simply doesn’t make sense. Watching my work come to life onstage is magical.
The show was an immersive experience melding art, dance and music with fashion. In what ways did the shows creative vision resonate with your own?
I work in multi-layered expressionism. I design clothes and then create videos or images with those clothes. I then manipulate the imagery / film all with the aim of pushing what is normally and hopefully inspiring. I have also now embraced NFT and digital fashion embracing the metaverse. It’s all just a glimpse of the gumbo that is my mind and as such showing in multi-format is essential. Gone are the days of only being allowed to be one thing. I love what I do, I think I’m good at it and expressing it in a multitude of formats allows me to breathe.
Your pieces have been worn by a who’s who of global superstars including Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Xtina. How rewarding is to see such iconic humans wearing the brand and are there any other public figures you’d love to see wearing your creations?
I mean, come on it’s wonderful, it’s like a stamp of approval when with my work is worn by these megastars and becomes part of pop culture. When used for videos there will only be a few for each artist and no-one can take that away from me. Between the three you mentioned I’ve had billions of views, the sad other side of the coin is that most, if any, will know that it was my work. But you know I have worked with so many especially with my favourite women who I grew up watching and looked up to…. now they are wearing my clothes and are my friends and that means the world. Women like Shirley Manson from Garbage, Peaches Nisker, Skin from Skunk Anansie, I mean these beings shaped our world and still fearlessly lead the way.
I have to say lately I am obsessed with actresses and have a lot on my list that I would love to create for. Let’s see what happens, I do want to be involved in films more. I have been lucky enough to be part of some but I want to do more. Also, I would love to have dressed Zaha Hadid having loved her vision so much I think she would have appreciated some of mine. But really anyone who is brave enough and strong enough to wear my looks and become the centre of attention. When possible, I work closely with my custom clients trying to achieve what is exactly right for them and their stature.
It’s not only A list celebrities who wear Jivomir Domoustchiev and key to sharing your work with as wide an audience as possible, is your in-house rental service. How important is extending the life cycle and accessibility of your creations to you?
Accessibility is hugely important. I have a piece for every client in my web store. Some looks can be greatly undervalued for the work that goes into them but I do that purposefully so people have access to my work.
The rental services is of course also very important, it’s more for the bigger pieces, which of course price point wise are out of the reach of most of us. But we all still want to look amazing and I think my work changes people, my unapologetic obsession with detail makes people feel special.
As for the life cycle, I want my work to last forever. It takes care to keep pieces looking good are with vinyl you need to nourish the material, Really with the bigger pieces I want them to be exhibited in your home space with their aim being one of dual function, as sculptural art and a wearable garment.
That rental service is part of a sustainable ethos that lies at the core of the brands DNA. Can you tell us about the sustainable practices you follow and how you monitor the integrity of your supply chains?
You know, I’m very aware that I’m working with a material which is very difficult to recycle. I have chosen different approaches in the aim of minimizing waste. I have been working with offcuts since I launched. From creating new pieces from my pattern cutting experiments and from damaged samples and have adopted this as a signature which will show through the collections. I’m also working on a new art project with my leftovers which I aim to launch soon. All this is essential for the modern world because as designers we have this duty to find a way to protect this world for future generations.
With my ongoing “Reimagine Our Future” collection I chose to take items that would be destroyed by the retailer and restructure and rebuild them into a new wearable structure which I wanted to suggest as a direct way to deal with overstock by brands. This has now been imitated by some of the biggest brands.
Reinterpreting and reimagining pieces from your extensive archive is something you are also renowned for. How rewarding and exciting is it bringing new life to that previous work?
I do not live by the seasonal approach to fashion. Some things I absolutely loved before and return to again as objects that still inspire me and should last forever. I have many mannequins fully dressed in my work and home spaces. I often change these around to be surrounded, engulfed by my work. I often put the pieces on differently to show how they were initially intended, something I encourage collectors and stylists to do. Putting on something upside down gives you a new perspective, you see new ideas emerge. At the end its all my signature behind the work so seeing something new is magical. I just really wish I had the time, money and team to pursue every idea that flows from my dreams.
You’re also well known for your collaborations and created a collection of stunning accessories for Julien McDonalds A/W 23 LFW show. Jivomir and Julien isn’t a partnership that immediately springs to mind so how did that come about and how interesting was it marrying your different aesthetics?
Wow, what an experience that was and how incredible were the finished looks. I’m really proud of it. Karl Plewka who is Julien’s long-term stylist approached me as I had worked on a number of projects with Karl and had witnessed Julien’s from backstage in my early career.
Julien is a pioneer in his work and when I entered his studios I was amazed by the absolute complexity of his dresses. Honestly, the detail is insane and the pure sexuality they portray is fantastic. From the fist moment, we understood each other’s work and what needed to happen, and over a number of fittings we reached balance. I love the juxtaposition and how it epitomises the purest approach to sexuality dressing.
I love collaborations and mainly they happen when I’m asked to create last minute for a project and in a matter of moments something brilliant is created. I’m very good at channeling all my experience and thinking on the spot to create the right thing within the time constraints. That pressure has led to some of the favourite looks I’ve created.
I hope in the future this will happen more as it also allows me to showcase on the biggest stage because as an independent micro brand I cannot put on a show as wonderful as that. Let’s see who is next 🙂
The collaborative process also extends to the metaverse and the digital collection you created. What inspired it and who did you collaborate with to bring it to fruition?
The future is something I obsess over and the metaverse intrigues me as a limitless expressive opportunity. I do not fully understand it and when I was approached to create a collection it was a definite learning curve but luckily, I was surrounded by some truly incredible talents in Marina Gryzdova who helped me rebuild my designs as 3 dimensional objects and Jenn Leung who brought them to life and built a world for them to exist in. Two incredible ladies who I worked with so well and I loved the final results.
I hope to explore this more and dream bigger but I need to understand the technology more to be able to manipulate it to its extremes and it changes every day. I also want to stay away from trends within digital garment design. I see too much repetition and chasing likes and imitation. In a limitless situation there should be way more diverse design. I chose to incorporate my signature in my design pushing it to a physically unattainable level.
In what ways does designing for the metaverse allow a creative freedom that’s not possible when designing traditionally?
Again, it’s understanding the possibilities that is the only restriction. I need way more time to do this. Exploring digitally really gives me an edge to push what I cannot do physically. I see so many digital garments that are designed by algorithms and brush tools, I just want to be in awe of people’s imaginations and not underwhelmed by their imagination. I cannot wait to see what people imagine in the future and how this will evolve and grow
As we pass the mid-point of 2024 what are your goals and spirations for the remainder of this year and into next?
I don’t want to end this on a negative as every day I and my peers strive for, fight for the right to create, to showcase what we are dreaming. It’s very difficult for all I speak to right now, to survive. Orders, sales, commissions are way down for everyone, it is more difficult right now than during the pandemic.
All the independents are scared to talk about this as it feels like you’re diminishing your own work, your relevance in your world. But really the majority of peoples spending power has greatly diminished so the frivolous shopping investing in individualism, micro brands and artistic expression has all but dried up. This is heartbreaking not just for me but also for all the other creatives bending over backwards to survive with no return.
All we see about this situation in the media is the sales reports of the mega brands diminishing as if their figures are more important and more representative of fashion, of craft as a whole, when they still take in billions in sales, to a great degree by imitating the visions and trends set out by the independent creators. Everywhere I look people are struggling and still creating, we don’t give up even when we cannot eat, we keep going. That is where the future is, at some point things will turn around and improve, if not, there will be chaos on the streets and the powers that be cannot risk that so the economy will be stimulated.
My immediate plan is to work on and develop a swimwear line in time for next Summer. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while and now is the right time. I want to give access to those that have loved and supported my brand in a more understandable, wearable way. Also, I want to put together an exhibition/show/ multi-media expressive experience about my world, to showcase what it’s like to be in Jivomir Domoustchiev world, a modern approach to the fashion show/presentation, art gallery or store experience.