Ljubljana Fashion Week started with a broken suitcase–not mine, thankfully–and a slogan on an airport sign that seemed to light the way forward for the following days: “I FEEL SLOVENIA.” We whispered it, chanted it and applied it to increasingly unrelated situations. A newcomer to the country, I was unfamiliar with your game, Ljubljana.
Within an hour of arriving, a glass of orange wine at Georgie Bistro had made a persuasive first impression. Slovenian trout melted on the tongue and seasonal smoked beetroot briefly occupied all my thoughts. Back at the ibis, which kindly hosted us, my clothes would spend the next four days sprawled across the floor. Although I had arrived for the fashion, I quickly developed several other interests.
Chief among them: the milk machine. At the central market, you can fill a bottle with milk from a vending machine, a discovery that delighted me far more than I could reasonably explain. Then there were the little electric cars taking people around the city centre. Ljubljana was named European Green Capital in 2016 for a reason, recognised in part for turning its traffic-heavy centre into a place for pedestrians and cyclists.
Our evenings provided equally compelling reasons to return. Silk and Fizz served cocktails with complimentary buttered popcorn, which was replenished with patience by the kind staff every time I emptied the bowl in one fistful. A Broccoli Stir Fry cocktail tempted me on paper, but cowardice prevailed and I ordered a Paloma. Birdie delivered the standout dinner: everything was designed to share, and share we did, fighting for every last bite of saganaki and saffron risotto. At Sarajevo ’84, our final feast involved little grilled sausages served with a rich cream, alongside one of the softest flatbreads I’ve ever had. It also involved my first rakija, a Balkan fruit brandy that can reach up to 60% alcohol. Deceptively melon-scented, it tasted like a pretty strong cleaning spray. I had two and gagged both times.
Amid all this, we were attending an incredibly well-run fashion season. Coming from a hectic London Fashion Week, where my toes were begging me for mercy by the end, Duffy-style, my biggest culture shock was how on time the shows were. A huge timer displayed right in the middle of the venue counted down to the next show, leaving little room for confusion. On evenings when dinner felt impossibly far away, we ate what our group christened “pizza rolls”: rolled-up pockets of ham and cheese goodness that steadily eroded my Italian principles. Huddled around the fireplace with my gluten-free companion and his corresponding gluten-free rolls, an unlit cigarette in one hand and dinner in the other, I felt Slovenia.
The people of Slovenia were what really made me feel at home. Melinda Rebrek, LJFW’s incredibly fashionable and hilarious co-founder and producer (donning Jona Bednjanec’s knitwear when we first met her) and her husband completely stole the show, yapping to us in car rides about the dysfunctional, loving family they have built over the years and speaking honestly about the hardships encountered along the way.
Founded in 2014, Ljubljana Fashion Week gives Slovenian designers a place to show at home while introducing their work to an international audience. Its programme has included student presentations and exhibitions alongside the runway shows thanks to initiatives like the LJFW WOW awards for recognising emerging talent. There was a familiarity between people that, as a first-time visitor, I quickly warmed to. Designers spoke about returning every year and how well they now knew the production team behind the shows. Their collaborations often started at home: Sanija Reja Aske and Mija Curk share a studio; MORJA’s soundtrack was made by the designer’s brother. Barbara Vrbančič met her animation collaborator, Eva Ježovnik, when Eva signed up for a sewing course where Barbara was teaching.
There was plenty to look at besides COLD’s ten designers featured below. Things I Miss delivered a performance populated by figures that brought Trolls to mind, with a colourful organza twist. Gacho Couture’s salon-style presentation offered bright blocks of colour and a soundtrack that left “La Mer” lodged in my head for the following week, although the designer with his long braided grey beard probably stole the show. Sampled Studio, my standout, delivered a masterclass in technique, using deconstruction to tell the story of women who once carried river trout from Luče to the nearby bishop’s seat. More on that in our upcoming interview with the designer.
I arrived knowing very little about Slovenian fashion and left wanting to see what these designers would do next. Below, ten of COLD’s picks from Ljubljana Fashion Week speak about their work.
Sanija Reja Aske × Sofianogard, Morana
“We both come from Primorska, a region abundant in flowers. Our mothers are passionate about flowers, and we see them as an endless source of inspiration, one that continues to find its way into our work. Sometimes, a thought from two years ago resurfaces and finds its place in the present, shaped by everything we have discussed together and researched. We usually review the materials and colours for the collection to determine which shades to use for the accessories. When it comes to the shapes of the bags and other accessories, we tend to express our preferences in advance. Our [design] decisions are not always precise or definitive; [the process is] more a matter of trust.”
SARIVALENCI, FU FU diamonds, Season 27
“With FU FU diamonds, I wanted to play with the idea of luxury and the desire to appear glamorous. The collection combines a grey jersey, typically associated with tracksuits and comfort, with the visual language of lingerie and a kitschy, almost artificial, image of luxury. I like the idea of something being ugly but cool, something that doesn’t necessarily follow conventional ideas of beauty but has a character of its own. This season was also a little different for me personally, as I was pregnant while developing the collection. It made me approach the production process more practically and think carefully about how to realise my ideas in a more efficient way without losing the character of the work. Together with a design team of five, I am currently working on a collection for the Slovenian team for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
Matic Veler, The Energy of the Future Through Fashion
“Since the sponsor of my show, GEN-I, is an energy company, I began thinking about energy in its most visible and universal form: the sun. From there, I started imagining sunlight passing through clouds, something mysterious, almost fairytale-like, where the light is partly hidden and then suddenly revealed in radiant beams. I collected many photographs of clouds and sunlight, and I also took a lot of the images myself. Those references gradually developed into organic patterns inspired by nature. For the ‘Clouds’ look, I used mirror plexi acrylic, which I laser-cut into individual shapes and then moulded to the contours of the body. As the wearer moves, the surface catches different reflections, so the look changes continuously, almost like sunlight breaking through clouds, appearing and disappearing with every movement. Sometimes I want to explore a silhouette, a material or an emotion and see how far I can take it, without immediately asking whether it can be worn every day.”
Petja Zorec, CHLORINE 2028
“The story behind the new collection stems from my days as a competitive swimmer. It is shaped by the physical exertion and emotional preparedness that a competitor experiences daily during training sessions. The creative process began with a review of my family photo archives; looking at old images from those moments. I paid particular attention to the idea of the athletic body through water, the pool with its bluish hues, the colours and shapes of the tiles, the technical materials of the swimming gear, the overall atmosphere of vintage analogue photography, and the unexpected elements within the images – fuchsia flowers in prints, zipper pullers, earrings.”
Barbara Vrbančič, If I Was a Bird…
“My initial impulse and thought stemmed, quite honestly, from a sense of helplessness and anger regarding what is happening in today’s world, where a handful of aging men steer the world according to their own greed. However, I did not want to start from a negative place. Instead, I translated these emotions into my own artistic language, creating something beautiful and positive out of it all. A bird yearning for freedom serves as a wonderful metaphor for the feeling of being trapped. That desire for liberty, whether it be personal freedom to live as one chooses, or simply freedom in a broader, literal sense. Embroidery is a hand-crafting technique that really resonates with me. It is an escape, or revolt, for me. It requires a sense of calm: you have to sit down, reflect, and carefully consider what you are doing and how.”
Morja, ROSENLUND
“I’ve always been drawn to folk art, its patterns, colours and the care that went into everyday objects and garments. I wanted to capture that feeling and translate it into a contemporary language. Two elements appear throughout the collection: the rosette, a symbol in Slovenian folk culture associated with protection and the sun, representing life and renewal; and the crowns, inspired by a Swedish bridal tradition that enchanted me during a visit to an exhibition at Skansen, an open-air museum in Stockholm. All the materials in the collection are either sourced from second-hand items or vintage textiles, with the colourful lines coming from my own box of leftover fabric scraps. The opening look, a white dress scattered with tiny blue flowers, is made from two cotton bedsheets patchworked together. If I remember correctly, I received them from a friend’s grandmother. I actually brought home around 20 kilograms of fabric from my time up north in Sweden, imagining that much of it would find its way into the collection. My friend Marjana, from Gudi Studio, created the porcelain earrings from fragments of crocheted doilies dipped in porcelain, delicate pieces that beautifully connect the different looks.”
Medle, Alexis’ Wardrobe
“[My collection] Alexis isn’t inspired by one particular person, but she definitely carries a little bit of Alexis Carrington from Dynasty in her. I also see Alexis as a kind of alter ego. A woman we sometimes are, and sometimes wish we could be. I believe a capsule wardrobe should reflect the personality of the woman wearing it. And if her personality calls for a little drama, glamour or extravagance, why shouldn’t her everyday wardrobe do the same? As for her everyday staple, I would probably choose one of the statement jackets, either the mint green one or the yellow and grey one. Knowing Alexis, there would definitely be some statement jewellery involved, oversized sunglasses, and a touch of gold somewhere. Even if she’s just running errands, she’d probably be a little overdressed, and that’s exactly the point!
Nika Ravnik, The Space Between, with _rois by Nina Rojc
Nika Ravnik: “I deconstruct familiar wardrobe pieces and replace removed sections with textile manipulations, creating new volumes, textures and relationships between the body and the garment. The visual inspiration came from Koža (2023), a project by Croatian artist Lea Popinjač. I’m interested in how a familiar garment can become something unexpected while remaining connected to the person wearing it. My next step is a month-long residency and pop-up at The Canvas in New York this December, where I’ll be presenting my work and hosting workshops. I’m curious to see how a new audience responds to the pieces and to share more of the process behind them.”
Nina Rojc: “When Nika showed me the collection and played the runway music, I immediately imagined the bags made from metal. I’ve done welding myself before and I have always been fascinated by the process, which was an inspiration for my initial idea to keep the welds visible and even enhance them, giving each bag its own character. I worked with aluminium, iron, stainless steel and a fine woven stainless steel mesh made in Slovenia. The pieces were laser-cut and hand-welded, which allowed me to experiment with different welding techniques and the ways in which the materials react to heat.”
Lan Krebs, Single Jersey
“Studying at the Swedish School of Textiles gave me an environment where projects could be developed from an early stage, thanks to access to some incredible machinery and technologies. However, life after graduation pushed me towards exploring ready-to-wear fashion, with less room for experimentation. I decided to keep my signature techniques, such as dyeing and devoré printing, and incorporate them into more wearable designs. This somewhat uncontrolled way of making clothes gives me the freedom to express my creativity and create pieces that feel uniquely mine. I don’t think there is another organisation like LJFW when it comes to supporting designers and emerging designers. They do so much for us, from providing professional models, local and international PR, custom hair and makeup, to incredible runway photos captured by Jure Makovec. The fashion industry is incredibly saturated, and sometimes you need connections, sometimes luck, and sometimes simply enough financial security to afford to work for free. I want to explore new environments, meet inspiring people and discover what else is possible.
Ula Weiss, Herbarium
“With Herbarium, I wanted to explore the beauty of things that are passing, and our instinct to preserve . I have always been drawn to the imperfections of nature and the way something delicate can become even more beautiful with time. Flowers have always been a part of my life, partly because my father is a florist, and I think this has shaped the way I see and feel about nature. I began imagining my garments as ‘botanical memories’, as if each piece had been gathered from nature and carefully kept. Working with natural materials such as hemp, linen, and cotton, I explored textures, folds, layers, and irregular forms that echo the shapes of pressed flowers. For me, this collection is about accepting change rather than resisting it, and finding beauty in what remains. Herbarium is my way of holding onto these fleeting moments – not to stop them from changing, but to honour their transformation and allow their beauty to live on in another form.
