If Mates were a movie, which genre would they be? A melodrama, a soap opera or a comedy?
Since their first piece that I wore a couple of years ago, I keep asking myself, how is it possible that we are always together in a different genre?
Mates designer pieces (I call them “costumes”) have an identity, a character that in synergy adapts to the person who wears them. Like those perfumes with pheromones, which smell differently on every person, depending on their mood, madness and infatuation.
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It was one of those hot July days when you don’t want to leave the house because you feel that lightheadedness will make you forget where you wanted to go. Air conditioning was cooling the air in the apartment and the sun sneaked in through the holey blinds and left dots of light on the parquet that made reality seem flickering. Even the smallest trace of light stunned and heat evaporated from all parts of the body.
We decided to turn collective insomnia into something productive so we scheduled an early morning visit to Saša and Marko in their apartment in Pančevo.
We talked about collecting knowledge, art, experiencing reality and inspiration. Consumerism and non-belonging. And mostly about recognition. About faith in coincidence, in which everything turns out to be super interesting, when we don’t expect anything special.
About Ruška, Momo Kapor, Mirjana Marić and Aleksandar Joksimović. About the first fashion show in Zagreb, birth and continuation of their “Yugoslav woman” T-shirt. Glitter. About women who wear their pieces and become parts of the community we’re building together.
Saša and Marko create fashion collections in which I recognize different versions of myself. Because I like to change clothes. To make combinations. I play and I seduce (entertain) my mirror. And to make it into a good show, the costumes I wear have to resemble some parts of my personality and vice versa.
Mates was created 10 years ago, while Marko and Saša were still studying.
Love and fashion.
They started building a brand out of the need to create what they love the most.
Life in design and fashion shows as theatrical performances in which the costumes act.
And of course, the story of authenticity. How to be yourself and follow your inspiration and needs if you live in a time where an algorithm evaluates you and tells the world whether you “passed” the value test.
Easily. You remain who you are and strengthen that part by persistently insisting on authentic creativity.
In their apartment, the sun continued to sneak in through the blinds and already at 9 AM tried to stun us with Lynch alike magic.
There were pink curtains that seduced even the slightest attempt to stay cool-headed. Reality appeared as if it was observed through pink smoke that smelled like wild roses from my grandmother’s old garden.
I felt nice. Saša and Marko are the kind of people I easily recognize from novels and music that have accompanied me since birth. There is David Lynch too, following our conversation and carefully observing the colorful costumes through the pink curtains. I don’t know if the fan or the air conditioning was on, but the light breeze moved the long dresses and kaftans, and the stand with clothing seemed like a strange shot from David Lynch’s movie where he introduces us to the story.
“To me, a mystery is like a magnet. Whenever there is something that’s unknown, it has a pull to it. If you were in a room and there was an open doorway, and stairs going down and the light just fell away, you’d be very tempted to go down there. When you only see a part, it’s even stronger than seeing the whole.”, David Lynch.
Maybe the atmosphere from Twin Peaks got into me again this summer, but for me, Mates creativity is also incredibly vulnerable. Their costumes can open your mind and let your deepest ideas come out and become something magical. Every idea, no matter big or small, comes into the world as a living, breathing being. A small spark of an idea triggers inspiration and visions, waiting for you to turn it into reality.
Green, blue and white tartan, bright red with embroidery elements inside or a transparent tinted red with ripples of fringe…Costumes tell a story. Those who can hear it and can create music out of it, are the chosen ones.
I am a proud collector of Mates designer pieces. In addition to pictures and books, vintage lamps or pieces of furniture, there are also their fashion creations. They all get along well and I enjoy living with them.
The conversation with Saša and Marko brought new inspirations into motion. I got into the car, and for a while I just sat in silence. Then I heard the music from Twin Peaks again and I suddenly understood why Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti were the perfect mates to create.
I’ll leave this over to you. It’s a long summer and the heat will surely take you to good places. I’m just sharing a picture here and there to help you daydream and analyze.
See you in your new costume. If I don’t recognize you, be sure it’s because you played your Mates combination well.
