There’s a series of events that takes place in Ljubljana Old Town every year, called: “Dobimo se pred Škucem” (“Let’s meet up in front of the Škuc Gallery”) and this time I was delighted to attend its opening night. It all started with a fashion show, followed by an opening of an exhibition and concluded with a performance of flamenco and live music.

The audience was of all kinds and ages and they mostly looked like they knew each other from similar events because of the happy chatter that took place in-between acts. And as I found out from listening in on some of the conversations they were having, most of them knew a designer or someone who was performing later on. There were also quite a few tourists, a Dutch pair sitting next to me, a few Indian ladies next to them, and some Japanese girls just across, and from somewhere they also knew the other attendees so all-in-all it looked like a big family gathering with a lovely, aesthetically pleasing crowd and atmosphere.

It’s always been a dream of mine to attend a fashion show and this seemed like a great opportunity to start my journey into the ever-changing world of fashion. This one was put together by a few students and their mentors from the “Textiles, graphics and design” branch of Natural Sciences and Engineering Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. It was amazing seeing pieces from people that I’ve briefly interacted with at different points in my life, being displayed and sold at an event like this. The scene was made out of old car chairs of all kinds, and instead of them being on either side of the runway, they were placed in the middle, like an island, with the fashion show happening around them, which made you feel as though you were literally part of the whole happening.

The theme was “Artleisure” (the combination of art and leisure), and it very much lived up to that title. High fashion pieces were transformed a bit so that they appeared more comfortable, and mostly wearable for a day-to-day of a “normal”, fashionable human being, presented on the runway, worn mostly by the designers themselves, which made the experience extra special. Combinations of patterns – which has been totally in this year – materials and styles made up for outfits for every season and occasion.

The show closed with a showstopper-over-the-top-floral dress, and lots of clapping, and the event moved from the street outside to the inside of the gallery space where a new exhibition just opened and right next to it a pop-up shop with all the designer pieces and quite a few extras that weren’t shown as well.

After we all had our peek at the exhibition and pop-up-shop, the stage outside was set up for a performance of alternative and new age music, accompanied by some flamenco which further entertained the crowd long after the evening slowly turned into night.

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Text: Mia Janezic