INTRODUCING NENSI DIJAKA
WINNER OF THE LVMH PRIZE IN LINGERIE
IN-Design | BRAND INTELLIGENCE
2022 JANUARY ISSUE
Planning | IAJ & STEAMDesign
Edit | Obilivate
Reviewer | lola
The personal underwear brand of the same name founded by Nensi Dojaka, made a stunning appearance on the international stage LVMH Prize and won this year’s LVMH Prize. Delphine Arnault, Executive Vice President of Louis Vuitton, once said that the jury was impressed by Nensi’s high-quality works, unique perspectives, and this start-up that thrived during the epidemic.
In this underwear world that has only been established for 4 years, women’s fragility, strength and boldness are its most outstanding elements.
Fragile or Strength
Nensi Dojaka’s underwear brand journey began in 2017.
At that time, Nensi, who was still studying for a bachelor’s degree in women’s underwear at the London School of Fashion, had gradually emerged and did something that almost all students of underwear design dream of-successfully founded his own underwear brand of the same name, Nensi Dojaka .
Nensi Dojaka, Instagram
This fledgling entrepreneur is certainly not satisfied with this. After graduating from the London School of Fashion, Nensi Dojaka also interned at the famous women’s clothing brands Peter Pilotto and Fyodor Golan, and studied with great concentration in the Master of Arts course at Central Saint Martins to refine better design skills.
In the 2019 Central Saint Martins Graduate Collection Showcase, Nensi Dojaka showed her suspender dress with iconic deconstructed details and transparent panels. Irregular patterns and diverse fabrics make Nensi’s design stand out, creating a very avant-garde design.
Her design combines the aesthetic style of the 90s with modern influence, and was once called the “avant-garde new wave” by Forbes magazine.
On her website, the designer lists her main goal for the label to be “to repaint the image of women; showing both sides: the vulnerability, but mainly the strength that characterizes them”.
Regarding the development concept of the brand, she once explained on the brand website:
These two seemingly opposite characteristics are the most sincere emotions of women. In Nensi’s design, the two characteristics “dancing lightly”, intertwined together, is indescribable.
With such a brand concept, the Nensi Dojaka underwear brand has opened up a dreamy world of underwear.
Design tension of opposites
Tension of fragility and strength
Deconstructed details and asymmetrical design are Nensi Dojaka’s specialties. These elements can be seen everywhere in the underwear display of the brand Nensi Dojaka. Thanks to the deconstruction and asymmetrical design, the feminine fragility and power to be displayed in the brand concept collide with wonderful sparks and appear full of tension.
The layered gauze, like a mist, fully reveals the looming beauty of the skin. This is the soft, even fragile side of women.
Nensi not only uses tulle to show fragility, she also uses delicate and light materials such as organza and stretch georgette to show the feminine beauty of femininity. This weakness seems to be fleeting, and with a touch, it ceases to exist. The graceful figure, hidden behind
the delicate tulle, highlights the mystery that is exclusive to the female body.
The expression of power is presented by Nensi through bold deconstructive
tailoring and asymmetrical design.
Irregular deconstruction and tailoring seem to imply a variety of possibilities in women. Unlike the neat, step-by-step rules and shapes, these deconstruction elements are messy, and people cannot find a formula to summarize the rules.
From a visual point of view, these irregular monochromatic blocks are filled with an unknown sense of power, simple and energetic. This may be the strong side of women that Nensi wants to capture.
The disorderly lines contain bold daydreams. We seem to have broken into Nensi’s deconstructed world, admiring the beauty of women’s power in the chaotic lines and color blocks.
When tulle, deconstructed tailoring and disorderly lines are matched together, they inadvertently create a poetic fashion expression.
Nensi combined the tulle with the deconstructed monochromatic block in a layered manner. Not only will the two not be incompatible, but they will blend together like a perfect blend, presenting a sense of hierarchy in the design and enriching the beauty.
Using delicate tulle with plain monochromatic blocks, it appears light and firm. Under bold deconstruction and tailoring, these seemingly chaotic elements are exactly Nensi Dojaka’s expression of the duality of women. Behind every piece of underwear, there are stories about the interaction of women’s
fragility and strength.
This dance about women’s fragility and sense of strength is so beautiful under Nensi’s design. The two complement each other and are full of tension. When this underwear is worn on a woman,
the wearer seems to be immersed in fragile and strong emotions, sometimes struggling.
Seeing Nensi’s bold use of deconstruction and asymmetric design, we can probably understand why the LVMH jury was surprised by the brand Nensi Dojaka.
Derived from the aesthetics of the 90s
poetry and subversion
Poetic and subversive, Forbes uses these two words to describe the design of Nensi Dojaka.
Poetry lies in the combination of feminine strength and fragility expressed in Nensi’s design. The subversion lies in the clever combination of deconstructed tailoring and asymmetrical design.
Looking closely at the design of Nensi Dojaka, it is not difficult to find that it contains a lot of elements from the 90s. Yes, Nensi did a lot of research on magazines in the 90s. She really liked the clothing, aesthetics, and even the way of taking pictures.
Nensi Dojaka believes that the cornerstone of the brand is high-quality materials, genuine products and slightly different ways of dressing.
In terms of creating the collection, I always start by draping on the mannequin which we then develop with every toile while doing a lot of fittings. Usually, as a lot of the pieces are draped and asymmetric, they are complicated to simplify into a commercial product and we put a lot of work into that now.
In the creative process, Nensi will first hang the fabric on the model’s body, and then use various other fabrics to try combinations and try on different things. Many unexpected effects were born from this wonderful process.
In the process of trying on, various draped fabrics and asymmetrical designs will increase the difficulty of the finished product. It takes a lot of time for Nensi to combine different elements in a deconstructive manner according to the characteristics of different elements, and finally present a finished product that is
serious and dualistic.
Perhaps “Poetry and Subversion” is not the original intention of Nensi Dojaka’s design, but a casual creative surprise. This amazing creation surprise is avant-garde and retro, bold and delicate.
From the design of Nensi Dojaka, we seem to be able to vaguely see that this young designer has ample creative desire for the combination of power and fragility in the female image. After winning the LVMH Prize,
Nensi said frankly that he would continue to use the prize money for brand development.
Next, what kind of dance will Nensi weave in the exploration of underwear design? let us wait and see.
Courtesy of YouTube Video by Tomorrow Ltd
LVMH Prize Winner Nensi Dojaka Talks Backstage At Her SS22 Show
Courtesy of Tomorrow Ltd Video | Sept 19, 2021 | 4:17
