How this design duo are confronting Polish anti-abortion laws and championing the female form
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
NAME Paulina Szczepanska & Przemysław Falarz
AGE 25 & 24
LOCATION Warsaw, Poland
STAR SIGN Libra & Gemini
LIFE MOTTO It will be fine; Bitch, you’re an artist.
Paulina Szczepanska and Przemysław Falarz often go by the name FAL-ASH. The design duo, born in Poland, joined creative forces after they met during their studies in the Fashion Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, while running art collective, PSISH. Raised in a world littered with hyper-scaled electronic ads and jarring typography in a post-communist Poland, the creatives, operating in a “world of visual chaos” began to document their love for print design and the eroticism of the body.
Branded as the “biggest school disappointment,” a conventional approach to a design career was side-lined in favour of collaborating with Brutaż, a Polish party series, showcasing techno and experimental electronic music. Eurotrash? More like Eurotreasure. Merging their bold and vibrant club kid aesthetics, Fal-ash was born.
Inspired by a love of art and the ‘90s fashion greats like THIERRY MUGLER, JEAN PAUL GAULTIER and GIANNI VERSACE, Fal-ash combine these classical reference points with the influence of growing up in a digital metaverse – think Sims and YouTube party wormholes where 5 minutes becomes 3 hours and oh look it’s dark outside – to create a unique design aesthetic crafted around subverting the “limitation of sample size.” The result? A collection that allows the clothes to work harmoniously with the figure to showcase the true beauty of the body. “We are really owning our bodies and want our clients to not to be afraid to do the same.”
Dropping their first season collection this month, inspired by the reboot of going OUT OUT and staying in, the offering gives a nod to the current political climate in Poland. Namely, the right-wing government having enforced a near-toral abortion ban, resulting in public marches in protest. Fal-ash’s new womenswear line has been designed to allow women to reclaim their bodies, to feel empowered and to own their sexuality.
Alice Morey: How would you describe your own personal style?
Paulina Szczepanska: It definitely depends on my mood. I would describe it as sporty, elegant but with variable proportions. And sometimes with an extra bit of glam.
Przemysław Falarz: It is actually very flexible and totally dependent on the season of the year. I tend to wear quite colourful outfits, mixing some of the best ‘70s and early ‘00s garment silhouettes.
AM: How did it get into fashion, was it something you always wanted to do?
PS: I thought I wanted to be an architect. One morning I realised I’m not really into all of that and instead of signing up for technical drawing, I signed up for a regular drawing class. At that point I didn’t know what I wanted to study but I knew it was something art related.
PF: Actually, I always thought that I’d become a painter! It was almost a last minute decision to study fashion design in Warsaw. After four years of my Bachelor’s, I understood that I hate to have somebody tell me what I can and cannot do. Studying is always having to agree to compromises, I am just not that kind of person!
AM: How does your creative process work?
Both: Every day we share tonnes of images on Instagram and Facebook of things that we are excited about. We also collect second-hand garments with nice details, prints or shapes. Then we start with toiles - made of old bed sheets, curtains or production leftovers. We really try to produce as less waste as possible. Computer work is a really big part of our creative process as all of the patterns, prints, and laser cut stencils are made digitally. Then comes final prototyping and producing in our partners’ workshops. We are trying our best to source all of the needed materials locally and to make our clothes and accessories with the people we trust and respect who are living just around the corner, not hundreds of miles away.
AM: Describe the Fal-ash aesthetic in three words?
Both: Sexy, sexciting, sexquisite.
AM: Fashion Moment you wish you’d been a part of?
PS: Jean Paul Gaultier S/S 1994 show.
PF: Opening of Big Biba.
AM: Crocs: yay or nay?
Both: Comme ci comme ça.
AM: Your go to song for instant motivation?
PS: So Mi Like It by Spice
PF: Over and Over by Sylvester
AM: What is your best party trick?
Both: Serving looks.
AM: A fashion trend you wish would come back?
PS: Tennis visors.
PF: Gloves everywhere.
AM: I’m absolutely obsessed with…
PS: Life-changing tofu recipes!
PF: Postmodern furniture.
AM: Don’t talk to me about…
PS: Anything bookkeeping related.
PF: Something that cannot be delivered next day.
AM: What is next for Fal-ash?
Both: Homeware collection.
Photography by LOLA BANET
Featuring Julia and Tina
Fashion by FAL-ASH
Hair by DARINA NOSKOVA
Make-up by SONIA KIERYLUK