About

About me

Hi there!

I’m Itiya the designer, pattern maker, seamstress and art director of Itiya studio. I founded the brand in 2021. I learned Fine Arts and History of Arts in Goldsmiths university of London during 2018-2021 and lived in London for 9 years from age 21 to 30. 

I have had 3 employees and am now going solo. As you may see, I mainly upcycle but also work with illustrators to produce textiles and am always in the lookout for more.

I make everything in small quantities and that’s because I make everything myself or with a tiny team and because of that I create patterns on my own body and only afterwards grade the rest of the sizes, based on demand. 

About the brand

My main inspiration is drawn from play, my childhood and how identity is expressed throughout the process of growing up. I see myself as a character designer. 

The clothing in Itiya Studio blends the everyday with the evening wear, the feminine with the masculine, the childlike with the adult; the garments are not associated with a clear-cut genre. I organize such indecision between these seemingly opposing worlds into an organized chaos. Clothes are like maps or diagrams that express our inner worlds, inner worlds that change according to social settings. We contain all of these worlds and are surrounded by symbols everywhere yet through their combination, I aim to create playful garments that ultimately express the inner world we all carry within us. 

We structure our world through visual infographics that map and guide us: charts, diagrams, tables, clocks, and even clothing, in my view. Clothing is a visual communication channel whose role is to mediate, and more than that, to broadcast one’s inner world outward to strangers when verbal communication is absent. Clothes are like present wrappers: they hint at the content inside, making it more appealing to outsiders; Clothing wraps the content in an inviting way while remaining true to social changes, creating an efficient solution for navigating life. We humans are not always certain of what we want to present to the world; while holding a desire to be seen, at times we want to disappear, or to be an individual and to blend into the group. Although there is always a repeating core, no collection of garments can ever fully contain our personality, there will always be more ways to express it. That is why, as a designer, I will not stop the process of renewing or updating the character’s look. I see myself as someone who helps mediate this broadcast outward for those who are interested in the channel I provide.

My technical and stylistic choices are deeply intertwined with conceptual ones. In my work, I use objects with strong social symbolism and associative value as raw material, such as button-down shirts, graphic T-shirts, hand-embroidered tablecloths, and even balloons; Some of these materials carry associations of mass production, while others hold a heritage of craftsmanship no machine can replicate. What is certain is that these are symbols that surround us constantly.
I begin working within the constraints of the material: relying on its historical baggage while also, at its limited amounts to dictate the design. Generally, with upcycling, one takes a known symbol and re-represents it, and I believe such design brings challenges, as the outcome can create indifference or identification; When a symbol is overused, the design remains kitsch. I aim for a homage that respects the symbol, sometimes laughs at it and opens a new discussion around it. I strive to break the kitsch, to disrupt the conventional way of seeing the symbol while maintaining deep respect for it.

The garments I design contain two contrasts: the first between girlhood and adulthood, and the second between masculine and feminine. While I carry a desire to play, get dirty, and not think about how I look, simultaneously, I want to be sweet, likable, and in control, that is, not to play but worry. Here we encounter a problem: the adult in me wants to be beautiful on her own terms, not on someone else’s, yet the latter is still relevant.
Thus, these contrasts that contain the human experience, include control and loss of it, soldier and commander, that are embodied in a single character. This is an idea I strive to express in my designs, and I will explain why. 

The corset is a clear symbol associated with the confinement of women, is a symbol I choose to work with humorously, using it as a tool for play. Instead of ignoring it or try to reinvent a new beauty ideal, I manipulate the corset in ways that grant me ownership over the symbol, I lean into and expand it. The corset is a cage of which I alter its exterior and interior and make my own and like that cage, also come “cages” with the garments I work with. In the process of upcycling I choose to keep the original elements of the garment, disassembling and reassembling around the boundaries of the cage, thereby expanding the limits and marking new territory. I somewhat surrender to the cage so that it remains recognizable, but I make it my own. It is precisely through this rebellion that I create a personal language, a touch of my own style and there like a child I play on the adults’ playground.

Speaking of playgrounds, games and kids’ play are a major source of inspiration for me both aesthetically and conceptually. Games combine strong illustrative aesthetics while hinting at a riddle; within a game there is mystery that encourages taking an active role in uncovering the puzzle. Similarly, clothing is also an aesthetic game through which one can choose to reveal or conceal aspects of the body and identity, thereby creating a living camouflage that belongs to contemporary life. The “soldiers” who discover you may be allies or enemies, but what is certain is that they recognize your natural habitat and our role as people is to continue this game in order to bring others closer or push them away. But specifically in my clothes, the game element comes to mind when one thinks of the cleavage: while corsets are one of the most elegant garments fashion has to offer, the corsets I make use day-to-day fabric. Therefore, the clothes I make can be used to a variety of occasions i.e., causal looking or elegant by simply pulling some strings: you can tighten or loosen, and play with the way it impacts your body, your cleavage, and there you have a solution for modern lifestyle, busy women working in an office while having to attend events afterwards.