0E5A9801Flora Miranda is a Austrian-born fashion designer who recently graduated from the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. This city is quickly become a fashion capital and 303 Magazine has snagged an exclusive interview with this up-and-coming designer. Her work has been blowing up the inter-webs due to its highly technological look and feel.

Her most recent show titled, _sidereal_ethereal_immatereal_, introduces viewers into a new digital age through leather and color. She had spoken about the collection before and described it as a “dream of teleportation through space and time.” When we asked her to elaborate on this idea and Flora Miranda dove right in.

“For years I have been intrigued by the theory of quantum-physics and I find it so revolutionary that we can actually already teleport particles from a to b,” said Miranda. “In the collection, _sidereal_ethereal_immatereal_, I treated the dressed body as if it was pure information. How would it look like if a human being is dissolving in it´s single particles and become immaterial, disintegrate into eternity? I am creating the desire to leave behind the heaviness of our physique, the borders that are given to our being.”

When asked about the leather construction of the garments, Flora Miranda had quite an intriguing response:

FM: That is a quite funny story – I got to visit a leather belt manufacturer in Guatemala and planned to work with leather belts in my collection. As my creative concept was to break up the body in horizontal segments, to let the garments float in rings around the body, these belts would fulfill form and function. In the creative process it did not seem reasonable anymore to restrict myself to belts and I took the material leather some steps further.IMG_9729

Her collection consisted of very little accessories, granted all the work that went into the leather banded dresses. But we know accessories can make the outfit. We asked Flora Miranda her interest in expanding to this field, and if so, which first – bags or shoes? 

FM: Before any other drawing you can find designs for shoes in my sketchbook. It is crucial what my woman is walking on, shoes can empower us extremely. Also I enjoy the process of making shoes, there you can think more technical in terms of construction and I love that challenge.

Indeed, I had super cool shoes in production for this collection as well – simply there were some issues with the manufacturer in the very end so this is still a project that I will bring out in the next months. Be aware! In the collection “www.sex.coll” I created shoes that were shaped from silicone, color was literally dripping around the foot. The furry shoes from the collection before won the coccodrillo shoe award.

Flora's Shoes on Display in Antwerp

Flora’s Shoes on Display in Antwerp

After learning about Flora’s intense creative process we went back to basics and asked, what made you want to become a fashion designer? Why did you choose to attend the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts?

FM: My first attempt was to study painting, secretly I have been busy with fashion my life long and I remember at the age of fourteen telling to my cousin that I will have my own fashion brand. “Dream on” was the answer, fashion was not really appreciated in my circle. While going further with my painting skills I soon discovered that I was pretty bored with this flat surface and I simply knew I wanted to be a designer – creating garments, collections, shows, not only alone but with a team of people. My favorite designers at that time happened to all have studied at the fashion academy in Antwerp, therefore I knew that this was my place to be. 

Her favorite designers also include Thierry Mugler, “a designer that created to me “the anti-fashion” for many years but whom’s work i look up to extremely now.” She also looks up to designers such as Martin Margiela, Markus Schinwald, and Leigh Bowery.

Flora Miranda's 2012 Collection

Flora Miranda’s 2012 Collection

Now that Flora Miranda has graduated, fans can expect to see her deeply expanding into design. We asked her about her next collection and plans for the future, she responded with:

FM: For sure I will introduce the joy of color again! Topics that I am exploring are mainstream/underground and the materiality of sound. With this hint I leave open a lot of space for your own imagination.

There are some solo and group exhibitions in Austria and the Netherlands scheduled for the upcoming year, besides that I would love to expand my practical experience in the fashion industry. Further projects are in the starting blocks, brains are running hot, that is all I can whisper to you at this point.

Be sure to look out for Flora Miranda in the future. We’re sure there is no way of missing her colorful garments that blend art and fashion together so well. We’ll be first in line when her collections hit the US stores.