How Roksanda Ilincic's designs offer a softer form of armour

Serbian designer's colourful, architectural clothes are made to shield their wearers

A look from the Roksanda spring/summer 2023 collection. Photo Roksanda

“It’s very much what women do, I would say. Shelter and protect,” says Serbian designer Roksanda Ilincic, founder of the eponymous Roksanda fashion label. She is talking about her approach to design, but also her drive to support other women.

She arrives for our meeting in Dubai Design District as a whirl of green sweeping through the door. Ilincic apologises profusely for being late and I am struck by how she is her own best advertising. The Serbian fashion designer, who lives in London, is wearing one of her own designs – yards of billowing fabric in a bright, crisp, chlorophyll green – and looks, well, pretty fabulous.

Ilincic and, by default, the Roksanda label, are best-known for their ebullient approach to colour – either used alone or beautifully clashing – and an innate flair for colour theory that works even in the flat grey light of London. Bold tones are mixed into elegant, sophisticated combinations that are fresh and dynamic, rather than brash or overpowering, while the cut of the clothes puts comfort to the fore. The result is stylish looks that are polished and considered, while packing a serious sartorial punch.

In Dubai for her first visit in seven years, Ilincic is amazed at how much the city has altered in that time. “The changes, such speed,” she says with a laugh. But while the landscape may have shifted, the loyalty of her customer base in the UAE has not.

“This market is absolutely phenomenal for me,” the designer tells me. “I think the customer here has always appreciated what I do from the very early stages, when I was just starting up and I was trying to find my voice. The women here really connected with, and gravitated towards, the colour, the shape, the quality, and that I like to cover rather than show off too much skin.”

Ilincic was born in Serbia and studied architecture and fashion at the University of Arts in Belgrade, before moving to London in 1999 to get her master’s degree in womenswear at Central Saint Martins, London. Her label, meanwhile, was launched in 2005 and is headquartered in London.

“In Serbia, the fashion scene, particularity for young designers, was simply not strong enough to support someone starting out. I was constantly exposed to British magazines – i-D, Face, Vogue – these were our bibles, and within those pages I discovered Saint Martins. The designers I respected all came from the same college, and I thought, that just can’t be a coincidence,” she says.

Her tutor was course director Louise Wilson, who also taught the likes of Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders and Richard Nicoll, and who Ilincic credits with helping her find a unique perspective. “It was a real gift that Louise recognised my talent, because at other colleges I probably would not have been accepted. My work was very different. It didn’t contain much fashion, it was more about art.”

Under Wilson’s tutelage, Ilincic was encouraged to explore her love of colour. “This was a point of difference for me when I started, when maybe it wasn’t so appreciated, so understood. The trend was for neutrals – black, white, lots of grey and beige. Colour was looked down on and I wanted to shake that up, and modernise it, and propose combinations that were very unusual.

“London is very much about breaking boundaries, breaking rules and trying to do things a different way. I took all of these elements and mixed them together and came up with something that carries my voice even today,” she says.

“I don’t think it has changed much – it has evolved a lot, but the elegance and timelessness, and a modern femininity, that is something that I have been doing since day one.”

It is this blend of femininity and architecture – translated into exaggerated volume or precise tailoring topped with punchy colour – that has become her hallmark. And every piece, however show-stopping, is cut for wearability. Think roomy and unstructured dresses that skim rather than cling. With such a distinctive style, formed from armfuls of fabric ruched around the body, or cut straight into tunic dresses in contrasting colours, Ilincic’s bold silhouettes also offer a sense of freedom, in how the body is seen, covered and revealed.

The Roksanda spring/summer 2023 collection that was presented during London Fashion Week in September last year, for example, pulsated with energy, pitching fuchsia, orange and bumblebee yellow against inky black.

Taking place at Ilincic’s favourite show space, the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park, it was also the latest in a long line of artistic collaborations for the brand, this time with feminist artist Pipilotti Rist, who contributed the vivid brush stroke patterning that ran across silk scarves and flowing trousers.

Visually rich, the show presented dresses and skirts seemingly piled on top of one another, creating haphazard yet strangely beautiful shapes, while overskirts were twisted and knotted into new forms. Interestingly, for all the clever cutting on display, the tailoring was unrestrictive, with waists held loosely with belts or dropped completely.

One skirt in vivid pink swirled into a flower shape at the front and fell into a train at the back, and was worn with a sharp, collarless jacket. Another dress was an explosion of gothic black taffeta over petticoats of neon pink net.

Elsewhere, a sublime long-sleeved, draped dress in Tiffany blue – seemingly crafted from one piece of cloth – was gathered into a dramatic cut-out mid-thigh. Another ankle length dress in zesty tangerine came with huge sculpted sleeves and an exaggerated hem that rose and fell in dramatic folds, while the rest of the dress was carefully pleated to follow womanly curves. Dichotomy is at the heart of Roksanda. Directional yet wearable, commercially attractive but resoundingly edgy, the label mirrors Ilincic’s own complexity as a fashion designer who is embedded in the contemporary art scene.

“Art is so important to me. It’s usually the start and the finish of my collections, and is something that is constantly inspiring me. And art is so connected to our culture. It mirrors society in a similar way that fashion does, although artists have more freedom to express themselves fully, than I do as a fashion designer.”

While fashion puts pressure on designers to adhere to an unyielding timetable of show schedules, lead times and production calendars, Ilincic is clearly drawn to the inherent freedom of the art world.

“I love to support female artists, I love to be part of something that is bigger than just my brand. Working collaboratively with artists is really just a connection thing. It happened quite organically.”

Following the likes of designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Helmut Lang, who worked with artists Salvador Dalí and Vanessa Beecroft respectively, Ilincic has collaborated with an impressive stable of young, female artistic talent over the years. Her autumn/winter 2018 collection, for example, was created with performance artist Caroline Denervaud, while spring/summer 2015 was a collaboration with sculptor Julia Dault. Niki de Saint Phalle was a partner for spring/summer 2013, while Irish artist Eva Rothschild has also joined forces with the label.

In addition, such are her art world credentials, Ilincic was invited to be a guest curator at Sotheby’s in 2018, and her Mount Street store in London was designed by renowned architect Daniel Adjaye. It is a cross-pollination she clearly thrives on. “I am grateful to fashion for allowing me to meet these incredible women artists and work with them and create something together – I think it’s a true honour.”

While her clothes are shot through with architecture and art, as a woman designing for women, she is able to bring a very human element to her work. “Comfort is a very big thing and understanding what is needed, what we want to hide, what we want to show. By no means do I think that women are better designers than men; it’s just a different approach, and I think to have the choice is very important. It’s what feels better for you as a person.”

For Ilincic, this also means turning away from the dogma of trends and seasonal wardrobes, towards something more individual. “I am a huge ambassador for not following trends but following who you are, following your personality,” she says.

“I sell all over the world, to different countries, cultures and body shapes, and what became important was to create collections that are transitional, versatile and that fit with different climates and different needs. That happened a long time ago, and it is the best thing I did. Autumn/winter? Spring/summer? It really doesn’t matter.”

Empowerment is currently an industry buzzword, with many brands vowing to make their customers feel more in control. Ilincic, in contrast, offers a more nuanced approach. “For me it’s not just about creativity and pushing the boundaries, but also sheltering, protecting and creating pieces that will make women’s lives easier.

“This is something that I took from architecture, and the buildings that shelter and protect us. I feel that when you create a dress, it should make who ever is wearing it more confident and more themselves – a better version of themselves.”

That Roksanda has become a go-to for women who are regularly in the full glare of the media, including the Princess of Wales, former first lady Michelle Obama, Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Amy Adams, Tilda Swinton, Anne Hathaway and Lady Gaga, is perhaps no coincidence.

“I do notice women who are in a particular spotlight or a certain point of vulnerability usually decide to wear me. This is something that they don’t necessarily always know fully, but is more a feeling, or an emotion they get when they are wearing my designs, and that is a huge compliment.

“I consciously want to shelter and protect, so when I see that they are using my brand in such moments, it gives me the direct proof that what I am doing is resonating and being understood. And I am not talking about the rain or cold, but I am talking about the emotional connection with the piece of clothing you are wearing.”