Ula:She by Ula Zukowska - spring/summer 2008
Ula Zukowska has long been known for subverting fashion with innovative shapes, and spring/summer 2008 is no exception.
A full-length cotton dress with forest detail is cinched at the calf yet bubbled at the knee, a hybrid design that a less talented creator would have botched in no time flat. In another piece, generous swaths of tawny metallic fabric hug the shoulders, and descend into wide-hemmed culottes for a one-piece dream.
It’s fun, though, to see the designer stray from her comfort zone of futurism and the ergonomically cool.
For the sporty look, there are lightweight capri pants and a matching zip-up hoodie. In a romantic vein, there are cream-coloured knit sweaters with lacey cut-outs and French cuffs. A summery black bell dress with metallic jardinière prints reflects this same daintiness.
Face patterns, cracked as though transposed from paintings by old masters, makes for a nifty touch. It’s rare to see the postmodernist Ula using such a figurative motif, but it works, either as a window into a stretchy jersey dress, as a side-silhouetted cameo on a gauze camisole, or as eyes peeping out of a shirt.
Daniel Cox, Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer
