IVAN ASEN 22
“IVAN ASEN 22” – conceptual designers‘ platform and Foundation for the presentation and support of contemporary designers, was created in 2007 in Sofia, Bulgaria by fashion designer Neli Mitewa who is its artistic director and curator. In 2017, Mira Draganova joined the Foundation as advisor and production manager.
Since then, it has established itself as unique, one of its kind initiative for creating, developing and presenting creative concepts, including young fashion designers of the new, professionally educated generation.
Working together, the designers form a network, creating a recognizable designers’ scene that is visible and curious to the audience concerned. “IVAN ASEN 22” aims to link the education and professional realization of fashion designers and to help them to overcome the difficulties faced by designers, such as the limited market for individual designer‘s brands, the lack of funding for this kind of activity, the missing knowledge in the field of management and fashion marketing, etc.
The activity of IVAN ASEN 22 concentrates in two main directions:
Curated fashion design EXHIBITIONS based on a common theme: co-author collections developed by the whole team of designers on a joint theme and upon a common concept, color scale and fabrics that are presented in the artistic spaces of IVAN ASEN 22. The showroom´s interior changes in accordance to the exhibition’s theme. Models and collections of designers are realized, reaching their potential customers.
In addition, the Foundation gives a chance to “newcomers”, selected through a competition and supports them by presenting their work. The platform organizes special individual presentations of particularly innovative and active new design labels. The designers’ works of the curated fashion exhibitions are also available for purchase in the IVAN ASEN 22 online-shop situated on this website.
Conceptual fashion art PROJECTS: Conceptual designer objects approaching contemporary fashion design to the context of contemporary visual arts. The fashion sculptures developed by selected designers are based on a curatorial concept and a theme related to public mega-trends and are presented in museum spaces in the form of a specially designed space installations, complemented by a fashion film. In this type of interdisciplinary projects, besides the designers, contemporary artists from the field of cinematography, photography, spatial design, actors, directors are involved.
In addition, IVAN ASEN 22 takes care of documenting the achievements of the designers and the Foundation`s activities by publishing of BOOKS. Their aim is to give visibility of current trends in the designers’ work, as well as to trace the process of searching for an identity of the design scene in Bulgaria and its integration into global contemporary currents.
