Cezary Zalit on coming up with your own plan for a creative career

There is a ‘Polish way’ of thinking when it comes to work and education. When, like Cezary, you’re a second or third-generation prospective university student, it’s very unlikely that a career in fashion will match your family’s expectations. If you want to take up something creative, you need to come up with your own plan. Like a summer job just after graduating from high school, for instance: “That helped me save up some money to move to Krakow. The School of Artistic Fashion Design is a private school and doesn’t require a portfolio,” Cezary says. He didn’t have such a thing at the time. Having specialised in IT and Maths during his secondary education, his scribbles on the back of his notebooks were the closest thing to one.

Drawing had always been ‘his thing’, but only at the School of Artistic Fashion Design was he capable of combining it with fashion illustration. “I never really specialised in it, but it became my niche, and that’s what I believe got me into Antwerp in the end.” When, after two years in Krakow, he decided to apply to an international school, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts was not his first choice but turned out to be the definitive one. “I applied to the London College of Fashion but got rejected. In those days,  Antwerp had just started the entrance exams. I finally had a portfolio to show and so I decided to take a shot. The test consisted of different techniques of illustration. There were hundreds of us that day, but I got in.”

“I don’t like to work with images unless they’re my own. I usually sit and think of something that doesn’t have a visual reference: that stimulates me to come up with one.” – Cezary Zalit

Ultimately, drawing became part of his design process: “I don’t like to work with images unless they’re my own. I usually sit and think of something that doesn’t have a visual reference: that stimulates me to come up with one.” Not even garments, or pre-existing silhouettes serve to him as an inspiration. A short sentence is more than enough for the designer, because he believes there is so much you can wrap around that. That’s when he starts putting volumes and lines on paper, which later materialise into drapes and soft silhouettes. It’s not about creating a jacket that fits right, but rather enveloping the body in a mood. The school approves: “At the Royal Academy of Arts, everything is very not technical. Of course, you need the technique, but it’s completely on you to learn that. Teachers are not there to show you how to do things, they are there to tell you if your design is readable and if it will work out.”

His MA collection is titled Invasive Spaces, inspired by the pseudo-philosophical concept of ‘sonder’: the awareness that everyone around you is living a life, just like you are. For many of us, this is a soothing thought that helps us frame our internal turmoil into a much bigger picture. For Cezary it’s also an aesthetic experience; an event that occurs while observing people on the streets and within public spaces. You are just given one hot second to land your eyes on a detail of somebody passing you by, or maybe it’s you – a flaneur of ordinary things – sauntering down a very familiar road, captured by its ever-new crowds. “I decided to observe what happens when you try to remember those moments; when they all sediment and merge in a way that the memory of a person is irremediably affected by what surrounds them. That’s what I call an invasive space.”

“So each design is constructed as existing from just one perspective, leaving one side like a blank canvas and bursting out all the memories on the other.” – Cezary Zalit

How does a fragmentary and personal experience such as that of sonder translate into a collection? “I worked with laser cuts and a variety of textures. I played around with all the fabrics and materials coming from our ‘surroundings’, from table cloths and paintings, to upholstery and linens, tearing them apart and blending them all together.” A dramatic slash on a black jacket reveals a layer of delicate white lace. It’s reminiscent of the way light pierces through a curtain and projects its shadows onto a surface. The slip dress has split open, exposing the sheer laser-cut lining. Garments are deconstructed and reconstructed, silhouettes seem caught in the act of breaking down, while flowers and leaves ornate stockings and petticoats throughout. “One big part of this collection was choosing only one point of view for each piece,” he tells us. Like the partial glimpse you catch of a person walking by, “so each design is constructed as existing from just one perspective, leaving one side like a blank canvas and bursting out all the memories on the other.”

“This year, I wanted the collection to have garment construction. I kept having the invasive thought that brands are looking for real garments.”  – Cezary Zalit

“I’ve always had summer jobs. Work, with its 9-to-5’s and night shifts, is a very tangible aspect of my life. Shouldn’t things go as hoped for in the near future, I’m ready to go back to work for a while.”  – Cezary Zalit

There are no fashion artifices or showpieces whatsoever. The designer’s last work as a student was the occasion to question the daring creative practices developed in six years of fashion education vis-à-vis the supposed expectations of the industry. “This year, I wanted the collection to have garment construction. I kept having the invasive thought that brands are looking for real garments. Given the time, commitment and resources it takes to create a dozen looks, I wanted to make something wearable that could be understood and appreciated by as many people as possible.”

While fashion school might feel like a stronghold to shelter and foster the creativity of students, Cezary has always held onto the reality outside. “I’ve always had summer jobs. Work, with its 9-to-5’s and night shifts, is a very tangible aspect of my life. Shouldn’t things go as hoped for in the near future, I’m ready to go back to work for a while.”  And yet, an internship opportunity might soon lead the designer to Milan, a city he never considered before. “But here we go again”, he says laughing, “history repeats itself.”