This is a short story about happy coincidences, or maybe it was destined to happen?
But first, let me tell you a little bit about this lovely soul named Jadwiga, who I met during our Erasmus+ study exchange at Design School Kolding in Denmark.
A 21 years old animation illustration student from Poland, Jadwiga, loves to draw the surroundings, but also from her mind, which is very childish and colourful. Her dream is to come up with lovely, heart-warming and funny stories, and being able to share them with others by illustration and animation. Her oldest passion is dance and her latest passion is climbing. You can check her adorable work here.
Now to the story; It was few days before my exam presentation and I knew I won’t have photos of the final project prepared, but I already talked to Jadwiga and had an image in my mind, how I want to style the top. But then the day of my examination came and Jadwiga and our fellow friend Zofia came as guests to my exam. Jadwiga was wearing the handkerchief skirt, that she later told me her mom made 20+ years ago. Instantly I looked at her amazed; ‘’this is the skirt you’ll be wearing for the photoshoot!’’. I was so so happy and amazed as I haven’t seen her skirt before and how this all aligned was magical.
Jadwiga is wearing an upcycled handkerchief reversible top, that I have made for my Design for Change course during my stay in Kolding. Our design proposal was designing for longevity or upycling, making a maintenance proposal for secondhand items, to prolong their life. Kolding had many second hand shops, and I loved going through them, browsing for beautiful textiles. There I’ve found many textile handkerchiefs that we don’t use anymore, so I wanted to challenge myself, to bring them back to life. I wanted to emphasise the beautiful borders, embrace the holes and stains.
Now looking back to the first half of 2022, it feels ages ago. I’m still full of memories, gratitude and at the same time I almost think that it was all just a dream.
