Roksanda Ilinčić: the fashion designer’s colourful journey through Belgrade, Britain and Brazil

I first met Roksanda in 2006. We were selling her flat in King’s Cross, which was unlike anything I’d seen before: a brooding space with cast-concrete worktops, a black resin floor and mirrored lightwells. It had a subterranean lap-pool that was completely black, like a cave, where one could imagine Bruce Wayne practising his backstroke. Roksanda had recently shown her first collection at London Fashion Week and garments dangled enticingly from rails in her workspace. Some 18 years later, I’ve come to meet her in her studio in the East End to record this podcast. As before, her latest collection is on display, only this time the hanging rails have multiplied by a factor of a hundred. The colours are even more vibrant. Roksanda is no longer simply a name; it’s a brand with a global following.

I loved finding out more about Roksanda’s life story. She talks passionately about the importance of nature in her life, from the old quince trees in her grandparents’ garden to the inside-out living of her favourite Modernist houses in Brazil. She describes how the birth of her daughter was like a portal opening up, which gave her new confidence and a sense of perspective. She tells me about how she’s managed to bring architecture into fashion, and why she believes that clothes are there to provide shelter and protection in the same way that a home does.

Thank you so much for listening, as always, and I really hope you enjoy it!

This episode was recorded in person at Roksanda’s East London studio. 

For more: 

Visit our website to see images of the spaces discussed 

Check out Roksanda’s latest collection 

Check out The Lost House sales listing, over on The Modern House 

Producer: Hannah Phillips

Editing and mixing: Oscar Crawford

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Music: Father

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