E.A. 1/1 S.V.

E.A. 1/1 S.V. is a progressive fashion label founded in 2002 by Croatian fashion designer and visual artist, Silvio Vujičić. It is known for connecting fashion with relevant topics of contemporary culture, such as masculinity, religion, politics and the arts, as well as for featuring paper as a material in garment production, alongside permanently pleated cottons and linens. It uses unconventional and chemically treated fabrics, creating new, luxurious textiles originally not intended to be used in high-end fashion. These transformations are achieved by using elements such as chemical perforations and pleatings, paper fusing, silicone coating and multiple layering of prints, using screen-printing as a constant medium in its work. The brand produces both ready-to-wear collections and unique pieces, including womenswear and menswear. E.A. 1/1 S.V. displays its collections in unusual fashion settings. In 2020 the brand developed an AI named Soll, becoming the first fashion label to have a designer with artificial intelligence. The headquarters of E.A. 1/1 S.V. are in Zagreb (HR).

1. History

The label was founded in 2002 in Zagreb, Croatia, by Silvio Vujičić, two years after he won the award for the most creative collection in the Mittelmoda contest of 2000. There he used paper and recycled non-woven materials to emphasize the disposable nature of clothing and start communication about the upcycling process of fashion garments. The name ‘E.A. 1/1 S.V.’ is inspired by the way the artist’s proof prints are signed.

2. Corporate identity

Logotype:
The E.A. 1/1 S.V. logotype was created in 2002 by Silvio Vujičić, then a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, while he was in a printmaking studio learning how to sign his test linocuts. The fashion clothing line he was developing parallel to his art studies applied a similar process of fast mechanical reproduction, which inspired him to use the signature he had reserved for printmaking (signing the artist’s proof prints) as a sign for his collections. Brand label design started with the manually stamped numerator logo being covered with silicone, and it has since undergone various design transformations. The label was screen-printed for each collection until 2011, when it became a jacquard weave form. Type and graphic designer Nikola Đurek redesigned the logo in 2015.

Meaning of the E.A. 1/1 S.V. logo:
E.A. – Epreuve D’Artiste
1/1 – edition, number of copies in the series
S.V. – Silvio Vujičić

Labels and lines designed by Silvio Vujičić:
E.A. 1/1 S.V. – main womenswear and menswear line (since 2002)
E.A. 1/1 S.V. Unique Piece – single pieces of womenswear and menswear produced by hand in the studio (since 2007)
1/1 – diffusion line of E.A. 1/1 S.V., casual streetwear for younger men and women (launched occasionally since 2014)
E.A. 0/0 S.V. – special items for selected shops (2017–2018)

Label designed by Soll:
E.A. 1/1 A.I. – womenswear and menswear line (since 2020)

3. Fashion

E.A. 1/1 S.V. collections are designed by Silvio Vujičić in his E.A. 1/1 S.V. studio in Zagreb, and they are manufactured in Croatia. Most of the collection fabrics have been designed and produced in-house in quantities required for a collection production. The process of design of both menswear and womenswear is based on the principle theme-idea-textile-silhouette, meaning the collection concept is the foundation, determining the silhouettes in each line.

The brand’s early years were characterized by its use of technical fabrics and those not initially intended to be used in a garment production industry, like fused felts, non-woven insulation fabrics, interlinings and paper. The radical change of materials with specific – and, for the fashion industry, uncommon – techniques of dyeing has made the brand locally unique. Due to the fabrics’ newly-gained nature, it has contributed to the research of a more abstract silhouette.

The Fall-Winter 2011/2012 collection presented a new direction for the brand. E.A. 1/1 S.V. introduced different silhouette shapes achieved mostly by the draping of newly-developed fabrics. Their transformation through various shibori techniques and modernized recipes of Croatian folk culture resulted in permanently pleated linens and cottons that can be machine-washed at high temperatures with no danger of smoothing out. Heavy application of screen-printing techniques using printing bases and dyes made both industrially and in-house, which redesigned the entire textile, became more intensively used in collections. Menswear silhouettes became less experimental in time and almost utilitarian, but densely implemented with data on the surface of the clothing, usually in a printed form (such as multiple layers of different screen-printed images on top of each other). Womenswear kept unique and more experimental pieces in every collection. The brand also started production of garments dyed with organic dyes, produced in-house, of plant or animal origin, as well as garments with intricate details produced by hand (applications, embroidery, silicone coating, hand knit). 

All of these processes and techniques have become the brand’s core style and are still in use today. Much of the E.A. 1/1 S.V. approach still comes from the initial intention to create controversial garments and concepts: an item of clothing that is designed to question itself as well as the social and cultural surroundings. Other themes that occupy the brand vary from those of more historical and cultural significance, like traditional heritage and symbolism, to erotic and floral imagery, voids, digital viruses and techno culture.

Since 2016 more casual, youth-oriented collections have been introduced by the brand (USKOK T-shirt, Silicone S1 Series, Dot Cap), as well as garments from the brand’s frequent pop-up projects, which question local and European political decisions, corruption and social injustice. These products are put on the market as a quick response to the problem; thus they end up being consumed around the time the topic is still current.

Developing one of the possible futures of fashion design, and going beyond individual durability, creativity and intelligence, in 2020 the brand developed Soll, a designer with artificial intelligence. Soll started its sub-label, E.A. 1/1 A.I., as a unisex collection of garments and accessories.

The brand is known for an unconventional approach to presenting seasonal collections outside fashion weeks or similar events, in private apartments, under bridges, and in adapted back gardens.

4. Collections (selected)

Designer	Season	Collection	Name	Line	Theme
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2020	Menswear Collection	no known name	Ready-to-wear	Bonding past
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2019/ 2020	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	no known name	Ready-to-wear	Jewish symbolism
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2019	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	S/S 5779	Ready-to-wear	Traditional Jewish heritage and techno culture
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2018/2019	Menswear Collection	no known name	Ready-to-wear	Coating transformations
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2018	Womenswear Collection	no known name	Ready-to-wear	Ballpen stencil drawings
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2018	Menswear Collection	Rust Bloom	Ready-to-wear	Shakespeare’s Tempest, potato flowers and rust metamorphosis
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2017/ 2018	Menswear Collection	Occupying Space	Ready-to-wear	Symbols, thresholds and territory
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2017	Womenswear Collection	Anguilla Anguilla	Ready-to-wear	Eels and underwear-dress interchange
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2016/ 2017	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	Handing Cycle	Ready-to-wear	Traditional Baranja folk costume
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2015/ 2016	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	Still Life	Ready-to-wear	Still life in a herbarium
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2013	Womenswear Collection	Abandoned and Forgotten	Ready-to-wear	Abandoned processes
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2012	Womenswear Collection	Cyanide	Ready-to-wear	Hortensia flower
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2011/ 2012	Womenswear Collection	Discarnate	Ready-to-wear	Funeral
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2011	Womenswear Collection	Kolo	Ready-to-wear	Traditional Kolo dance
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2010/ 2011	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	Gridiron	Unique pieces	Perforations
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2009	Womenswear Collection	Apparitions	Unique pieces	Ghosts
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2006/ 2007	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	Exposed to Virus and Fashion Collection (not to be confused with the artwork of the same title)	Unique pieces	Digital virus and textiles
Silvio Vujičić	Fall/ Winter 2005/ 2006	Womenswear and Menswear Collection	Inside the Tunnel	Ready-to-wear	Membranes and holes
Silvio Vujičić	Spring/ Summer 2005	Menswear Collection	Darkroom Edition	Unique pieces	Pornographic imagery
Silvio Vujičić	2005	Home decor	Home Collection for AAG	–	Mosquitoes

Pop-up events:

Date	Name	Location	Theme
September 17th, 2020 – October 3rd, 2020	The Lilies Series	Touch Me Festival by KONTEJNER – bureau of contemporary art praxis, The Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Zagreb, Croatia	Mutant creatures and hybrid pigments
December 14th, 2019	Rape of Europa Pop-Up Store	Former Sauna and Gym Cafe, Trg Petra Svačića 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Mythology and collapse of the EU
September 18th, 2019 – October 10th, 2019	E.A. 1/1 S.V. EX-LOVE Pop-In Store	Extravagant Bodies: Extravagant Love Festival by KONTEJNER – bureau of contemporary art praxis, The Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Zagreb, Croatia	Extraordinary love relationships
September 14, 2018	USKOK Pop-Up Shop	Wrestling-club changing room, Medika, Pierottijeva 11, Zagreb, Croatia	Politics and crime
December 4, 2016	Damir’s Tales	Kino Tuškanac, Tuškanac 1, Zagreb, Croatia	Isolation, sex and society in transit
October 19, 2016	Silicone S1 Fluorescent Series	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Virtual bodily excrement
July 20, 2016	SILVIO силвио	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Forgotten alphabet
June 22, 2016	Tko je Zlatan?/ Who is Zlatan?	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Peculiar local political and cultural context
May 25, 2016	Lend a Hand, Lend a Foot	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Symbolism and fetish
February 6, 2016	Darkroom Series	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Un/visibility of pornography in public space
November 26, 2015	Sava Silicone S1 Pop-Up Shop	Trnjanski nasip, Most slobode (Liberty Bridge), Zagreb, Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia	Stigmatised urban sites
October 10, 2015	Ilica 12 Pop-Up Shop	Ilica 12/1, Zagreb, Croatia	Illusion of bourgeois society
September 27, 2015	Underwear Series	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Selfie as a form of social portrait
September 18, 2015	DuBOko UNuTRa T	Duboko Unutra Pavilion, Mesnička 7, Zagreb, Croatia	Concept store launch

5. Marketing

For its pop-up projects, E.A. 1/1 S.V. uses guerrilla marketing and other alternative methods of advertising atypical of fashion systems, such as screen-printed posters, street graffiti and tear-off flyers. Posters generally do not include the brand’s name or the event’s address. due to their illegal placement in public space or the sexually explicit or political message, but do include the date of the event. Public space becomes a forum for expressing strong opinions about current topics, sometimes resulting in outrage from the public. In 2014, E.A. 1/1 S.V. started experimenting with multimedia advertising, mostly in the form of short films for social media. Damir’s Tales is one of the most complex ads the brand has produced for its Silicone S1 Series. The 30-minute-long ad premiered in a cinema, and, due to its controversial topic, left half of the cinema empty.

6. Stores

n600e134, Jurišićeva 28, Zagreb, Croatia, 2021
DuBOko UNuTRa, Mesnička ulica 7, Zagreb, Croatia, 2014–2018
Nova Rupa, Mesnička ulica 29, Zagreb, Croatia, 2004–2005

7. Exhibitions

2019/20, E.A. 1/1 S.V., Hat off! A Story about (Un)Covering the Head, Ethnographic Museum Zagreb, Croatia (group show)
2018, E.A. 1/1 S.V. DuBOko UNuTRa, HDD (Croatian Designers Association), Zagreb, Croatia (solo show)
2003, Imagerie – art fashion, Revoltella Museum, Trieste, Italy (group show)

8. Recognition

2012, Elle Style Award for best Croatian fashion designer
2000, Mittelmoda Award for the most creative collection, awarded by the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana

9. Collaborators

Video and film: Ivan Slipčević
Photographers: Karla Jurić, Mare Milin, Ivan Filipović, Ivan Slipčević, Sandra Vitaljić, Kristina Lenard and others
Models: Staš Mlinar, Bernarda Cenkovčan, Janko Marjan, Ines Zjakić, Damjan Brundić, Marija Ćurić, Mate Jonjić, Bruna Tironi, Zrinka Užbinec, Matija Baotić, Filip Fikke, Marko Kasalo, Tomislav Hvasta, Pavel Beljan, Matej Šovanj and others