SZN | FASHFEST

Photo: Kewal Rai

Have you had a chance to check out my profile page on the FASHFEST website? If not here is my description - which I quite like!

SZN is an simplification of Suzan Dlouhy’s first name and reflects how her production process seeks to find the most simplified way to make something.

Suzan designs by letting material use dictate the direction of each item, whether it is finding a way to repurpose, upcycle or recycle a textile. SZN designs for the thinking person who is interested in re-appropriation, process-driven design and lifestyle-based practices.

This is SZN’s second year at Fashfest.

All SZN garments are designed and made in Canberra by Suzan, who graduated with a Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design) at CIT in 2012. Wherever possible, Suzan gives value to what was once waste by practicing sustainable design. The majority of fabric Suzan uses is sourced from the remnants of fellow designers 4 Minutes 33. SZN also upcycles vintage fabrics such as bedsheets and curtains as well as new and old vintage fabric and textiles sourced during visits abroad.

SZN also designs ready-to-wear and custom-made costumes, commissioned for dance, opera, burlesque and music videos. In 2014, for example, Suzan was commissioned to make the 100 volunteers working at the National Multicultural Festival stand out in the crowds with scarves and bandanas she designed and sewed herself. The pattern she created for the fabric was also chosen as the cover of the festival’s compilation CD.

SZN operates as an open source transparent business and endeavors to share as much of its operations as possible.