Zuzana Štefanides: I thought that when someone sells something, it must be flawless
Zuzana lives with her family in Prague – she sews shirts from old tablecloths, where every piece is an original – she used to have a successful fashion blog and is part of the project called Pokojovky – she loves everything old and surrounds herself with items that even when out of order they still look beautiful and bring her joy.
You are sewing shirts from old tablecloths and in doing so, giving them a second life. This material comes alive again and extends its story. How did you come up this concept?
I always wanted to create but I never studied design or any other form of art therefore I thought that I should not. But I love everything old and my frequent visits to antique fairs and markets made me start collecting things including old tablecloths. Much later I found out that there are people, who sew using such materials and that these clothes can be even better than those from regular fabric. For sure, if you love stories as much as I do.
This winter I bought a dress from my favorite Spanish designer J. Llambias that was made from old fabrics. It was fascinating. I always thought that when you sell something it has to be flawless, but this dress is from 100 year old fabric and is absolutely gorgeous. It made me realize that there are people that do not need to have everything perfect and I remember saying to myself, I can create pieces like this!
Why should we wear clothes with a story? Why is it so important to you?
You have to walk in such clothes and experience it. I personally had such an experience when I was in Mallorca in this dress from J. Llambias. I was walking through the city, and I was feeling that I am the story. I am not Spanish, and I don’t even live in Mallorca. I was even telling myself that I should not even wear this dress. In such a natural way, I became part of the surroundings – even some older ladies came to me because they recognized the fabric that this dress was made from. It was a great feeling!
“I was walking through the city, and I was feeling that I am the story. In such a natural way, I became part of the surroundings.”
Sewing is one of those skills that less and less people master. How did you learn how to sew and what gives working with hands?
My mum was sewing because she had to, and she was mainly adjusting and resewing. When I was fifteen, I once sewed up a pair of pants, but I didn’t know how to work with patterns. But it was always intriguing to me. When I saw that one of my friends learned how to sew during the pandemic based on some YouTube videos, I decided to go for it, too. She taught me how to work with patterns and I just kept going.
Sewing gives me joy. Every single time when we are coming home from somewhere I am looking forward to sitting at my machine. Because I like it so much, I think that’s why I am good at it. I have no idea where it came from, but I fell in love, and the minute I am close to a sewing machine I just want to create.
Do you sew all your pieces by yourself? How does such a shirt come together?
Yes, I sew all my shirts. The most difficult part for me is to find the right fabric. The minute I have it, I create shirts that I would wear personally, which is not the best from a marketing point of view. There will always be people that like different fabrics and shirt styles. But I want to give to the world something that I like.
I always try to clean these old tablecloths as much as I can. I also try to get the maximum I can from the fabric in the sense that I’d rather create a shorter shirt than jeopardize the material, embroidery, and therefore, the story. I don’t have one universal pattern, so I adjust every pattern to a concrete tablecloth, which means my shirts have different lengths and widths.
“I create shirts that I would wear personally. There will always be people that like different fabrics and shirt styles. But I want to give to the world something that I like.”
What does clothing mean to you? And what is your favorite piece in your wardrobe?
Clothing is my passion. For about fifteen years, I had a quiet popular fashion blog. I was getting lots of clothing and eventually reached a point when it was too much. A few years ago, I discovered how global retail chains work, something that was not talked about a lot, and that changed me.
I paired down my closet and started to realize who and from what was my clothing created. Now I have 50 pieces in my closet. Many of my dresses I’ve had for years. Every year I buy a few pieces from my favorite designers, that I follow and whose work I appreciate. So now when something in my closet is missing, I know right away. Once I was missing a dress, I could not understand what happened. “How could I lose a dress?” In the end, I found out that it fell from my balcony, and I discovered it two floors below!
I’d say I don’t have any single favorite piece because everything that is in my closet is my favorite otherwise it would not be there.
How important are trends for you?
I don’t follow any trends. I used to follow them because of my work in marketing. I also used to buy Elle every summer and mark things that I want. Now, I am aware that it is popular to show your belly, but I have my dresses for years and I love them just because they don’t show my belly! So I don’t have any plans to stop wearing them.
How do women handle your shirts having a stain or other imperfections? Do they see it as part of the story?
I openly share that some shirts are not perfect. Others are. Sometimes it’s perfect, but it’s not often. So far, only one customer has returned one of my shirts and that was mainly because she did not read the sizing right. But it’s interesting that even people that follow me and know the limitations of the fabric I create from, still expect that the result will be flawless.
Do you think we’ve lost a connection with the people that sew our clothing and with the material that it is made of?
A while back it was common that women were saving for a coat for four years and then they were wearing it for 30 years. We’ve lost that. Now we get quickly bored or we want another one. It’s only natural that if you are saving for an item for so long you would have a totally different relationship with it. I have a nice relationship with my clothes, but overall, I don’t think that people view it like that. If they need a new dress for a certain event, they just go and buy it.
How important is esthetics and visual presentation of your pieces to you? I mean photographing them, capturing details and the overall atmosphere?
I like to surround myself with nice things, that are beautiful even in a mess. I don’t like only old items, but also quality products. For instance, for a very long time we had at quiet awful coffee grinder. We had it simply because we did not have money for a high quality one. When we finally bought a new one – exactly according to our vision – I knew that I would have it forever. I just cannot tell my mom how much this grinder costs! But it makes me happy every day. This way I allow in my life only things that make me feel good.
I create an aesthetically nice world, and I think that’s what you see in my shirts and pictures on Instagram. I don’t take pictures to look good, they just reflect the world I live in.
“I don’t take pictures to look good, they just reflect the world I live in.”
How does it feel to send your pieces into the world and aren’t you worried that one day you will run out of old tablecloths?
My future me will for sure laugh to me one day. When we started Pokojovky, we had plants on my balcony. So now when I sew in the evenings and search for old tablecloths, I believe that I will laugh at the conditions I was able to create in.
I think that there are many more tablecloths, I just need to find them. I am not afraid that I will run out. Every shirt is a piece of me that I send to the world; therefore, I often wait for the response either positive or negative. But sometimes no-one gets back to me and that’s the worse because you don’t know if someone likes it or even wears it.
My goal is not to sew one shirt after another. I am looking for a balance between what my life allows me and what I am capable of creating. I also want my shirts to be rare.
All photos ©Lucie Fenclová