Katrin Aasmaa
“PROSTA KAPUSTA”

…is inspired by my great aunt Naadi’s (Nadezhda) cabbage field. I see cabbage as two different symbols- first of all collusion and the massive expansion of agriculture but as well as a token of surviving the hungriest periods in life.

The main inspiration lies in the 1940s- with glamorous parties coming to an end and people going to work on the fields. I heard a story about Estonia’s head of state Friedrich Akel, whos wife got deported to Siberia and forced into field work. She wore a fancy hat to work, because for her, this was the last sign of feeling like a human being.

The collection takes a closer look into how formal attire shifts into work clothes – how the suit, workwear and housedresses meet. The textures are inspired by worm-eaten cabbage leafs- the holes and lines. Some details stem from the jagged edges of old photographs that also remind me of cabbage leaves. The bigger veins inside the cabbage are translated into corset boning, giving menswear a feminine touch.

The patterns are inspired by the cross-section of the cabbage. I am using tweed fabric: known for its fancy reputation but made in itself in simple weft.

I am portraying its aging- how it becomes jagged and how holes develop in it. Inside the holes there are still some small splashes of sequin and sparkle left- a memory of the happier times. The purpose of this collection is to show, how clothes can still make people feel dignified in the most difficult times. It is about finding hope in the most hopeless situations.