Profile: Alice Šišmanović – Only Natural Design Competitions

Alice Šišmanović

Bath Spa University

I’m Alice Sismanovic, a 2025 Fashion Design graduate from Bath Spa University with a strong focus on conscious design and natural materials. During my second year, I had the opportunity to study at NABA University in Milan. My time in Italy really made me question how and why we make clothes. What makes a garment good quality and something that is made well. With this new direction, I took a placement in Paris at Les Fleurs (a second-hand/up-cycling brand) which gave me space to explore slower, more thoughtful ways of working. Here I learnt that fabrics which already exist and are waiting for landfill, have the opportunity to be used and made into new, more beautiful things. I’m drawn to second-hand, vintage and historic clothing, pieces that carry stories and emotion. I have a collection of archive clothing that I have gathered throughout the years from markets, auctions and collectors which I use as design research and inspiration to explore old techniques and details that aren’t used on clothes today. I have huge respect for handmade, small, independent designers who are doing it because they love it not because of trends and money. They’re people that I try and support whenever I can. My work tends to sit somewhere between the past and the present, always with a focus on longevity, texture and intention. I create garments that are made to last and for you to love.

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VOLUME I - OMNIBENEVOLENT

Category: Apparel

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2025

My capsule collection was created with two aims - to be beautiful and to have minimal impact on both the environment and the wearer. I always knew that naturally I would want to use sustainable, 100% and dead-stock materials to create my collection. Most of the clothes I own are vintage or secondhand, some even antiques. It is in my own wardrobe that I can see first hand that clothes can be made to last. I do not buy new and so why would I make something that contradicts that principle. The collection, titled 'OMNIBENEVOLENT' reflects my love for beautiful things. If a garment has been made in the least environmentally impactful and ethically aware way it can, with responsibly considered materials and the correct long-lasting construction - the garment should be worn and loved and handed down through generations, to be consciously kept and repaired with each wear. We all know that clothes that are handed down, are always the most loved. Over the years, I have collected many secondhand and dead-stock fabrics: vintage military mattress covers, pure wool blankets, hemp grain sacks and cow-hide leather to name a few. This felt to be the right time to create a collection of unique pieces. No dye nor chemicals that could harm the wearer were used. Most fabrics were used in their natural state, keeping it as organic as possible. The Mulberry silk was consciously sourced from Kinetika, a group who support 14 families in Murshidabad, West Bengal that create the most beautiful 100% hand-woven silk. Supporting them encourages the latest generation who have this skill to continue this ancient tradition. Hand-stitching, binding and smocking reduced the environmental impact and enabled me to make the inside of these pieces as beautiful as the outside. I have created a wardrobe. A collection of garments that are interchangeable, tran-seasonal and can be layered up or down, for any age and person that wants to wear them. My capsule collection is made to last, and for you to love - allowing the fabrics to breath a new life.