Blitz interview with Olga Boncheva, the founder of OVERSIZED STUDIO
Tell us about your studio. How did the idea to reconstruct vintage costumes appear?
I've always loved original clothes, been sewing something all my life. When I was studying as a stylist, I began to work on set at the same time. Once I decided to sew a men's suit for myself, leaving it a strict silhouette, and put the pants high on the waist. I wore it without taking it off and got a lot of questions about where it came from.
Then I continued to find vintage pieces, re-stitched them, took photos. During one of the KYIVNESS markets I had a thought to present my re-done collection, and two months later The Oversized project appeared. Six months later, I changed the name to Oversized Studio. I like a transformation in clothing, so that the thing survives the maximum number of lives in one embodiment.
How long does the process of creating a re-done costume take?
It takes a long time to find the particular suit or jacket that is worthy of reconstruction. There are many criteria for selection: high quality fabric, it’s always wool, or wool with silk, natural cotton or linen, colors, texture. The most difficult thing is to find a suit-set in excellent condition. I always keep the concept of upcycling, we use only already sewn things and do not buy new fabrics.
We even try to find vintage accessories, especially metal buttons at flea markets.
After the selection there are dry cleaning and restoration, and at the final stage I create a model of a new thing. This is the most interesting for me in the process. Tailoring one suit after all these steps takes 1-2 days.
Where are you looking for costumes for recycling?
"The world is not an end of search", I love this phrase. So everywhere: resale platforms, stocks, flea markets and second hand.
What do you think is most important in a suit?
Structure, quality and fit of pants. A lot of modern models of pants have a low fit, and we need suits of the 80s, 90s in perfect condition. We usually take large men's sizes, which sometimes are never worn.
A great suit. It is...?
The quality of the XX century and cut of 2020.
What other pieces does Oversized studio create?
I really like the Double collection. We combined two different pairs of pants into one. There are pants, where one part - from Yves Saint Laurent, and the other - Italian vintage, selected by the structure of the fabric and color. There is a summer coat made of two jackets, which I wear by myself.
One of the favorites is a three-piece suit: a short jacket, a basque and high pants. Basque can be worn separately, by the way. There is also a jacket with zippers on the sleeves: unbuttoned can be worn in the evening, and buttoned can be worn as a basic jacket.
We also have trench coats, vests with a rough cut, sometimes jeans. Not only Levis, there are cool tight jeans with a high fit, re-done into different models.
Your favorite thing with a story?
Our jackets with a pearl thread that starts at the front and ends at the back of the collar. This idea came when I hid a hole in a woolen jacket with pearl embroidery. It turned out very cool and I repeated the same on other jackets, but without defects. The first one remained in my collection. Such a real thing.
Photo: Oversized studio
