Vancouver Fashion Week SS19 - Interview With Designer Tijana Milutinovic

All runway image by photographer Simon Lau

 Please share a bit about your journey to embrace fashion design as a career.


I was conscious at a very early age that fashion would be my choice. It came naturally to me because I grew up with a mother who was always passionate about creating clothes for herself, my sister and me. Today, we work together.

So, I suppose I found my fashion sense in my own intimate universe.

How did you learn your skills? If you studied fashion design where? If you are self-taught how did you hone your skills?

I learned my skills first at home, then in High School classes in design, and then I did further studies at the  Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade where I earned a degree in Contemporary Clothing Design in 2012.  From then until now, I've worked several different jobs in the industry.

What comes easiest for you as a designer? What is hardest?

For me, the easiest part is the process of creating a collection. The hardest one is everything which comes after.  This is quite a universal answer, which could be taken also with a philosophical touch...when easiest and hardest become one.

Where do you find inspiration for new collections? How important is colour to your design process?

Sometimes I feel like my inspiration is always the same. For sure, it comes from the same source. I'm interested in the daily feelings of contemporary individuals and communities. I am always trying to transpose those feelings into clothing which "speaks" about their inner worlds.


Readers would love to know more about the current collection you showed at Vancouver Fashion Week. 

My new collection "NETWORK" for spring/summer 2019 offers a new way of my thinking about the previous answer.  In it I am thinking about connection, disconnection and reconnection, in both an emotional and physical way. At the end of the day it's just clothes, but you need to "say" something. For me, color palette, seasonal marks, and target groups are less interesting to speak about.



Do you have a favourite look in this collection?


I couldn't say I have my favorite look, but I could say I have the signature piece. It's my black suit with asymmetrical viscose patches.

Where can readers purchase your designs?

At the moment at the Palmas Boutique online store, and very soon at Wolf & Badger.


What's next for you as a designer and your brand? 

Next I will be stepping out into a wider market while maintaining a continuity of producing and presenting collections.

What advice do you have for young fashion artists just beginning their journey to become designers?

Follow your path, feel, learn.


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