Happy Nation by Lana Dumitru

- in a love-hate relationship with my memories -

 

   "Happy Nation, the new collection of Romanian artist and fashion designer Lana Dumitru, deals with the national past and her early memories using nostalgia and humour: from the iconic coat of arms of dictator Ceaușescu's Romanian Socialist Republic mixed with the laughing with tears emoji, treating that political period as the absurd joke that was, to the domestic kitsch of the 80s flats in which the old TV sets were placed over a macramé, to the ironic glamorization of the school uniforms worn during the era. She turns the oldest artistic forms of expressing - the primal emotions (the ritualistic masks from the pre-Romanian traditions) into the contemporary digital masks- emojis. Also, the traditional carpet from a Romanian peasant’s house becomes the comfy climax of a chic overall. Or the dresses that express rural good fortune and prosperity using the image of a turkey, made by using the laser-cut.

   Happy Nation is a sport couture collection, made in part using innovative technologies (digital printing and laser-cut print) mixed with hand-made techniques (remixed Romanian traditional masks) and haute couture items.

   Like any Lana Dumitru collection, Happy Nation is not made especially for a particular season, it’s not a must-have for the summer of 2016, it’s just as timeless as the memories that inspired it. "

Models: MRA Models Agency

Photo Credits: Adi Bulboaca