DONNA SGRO

Donna Sgro is a fashion designer based in Sydney, Australia. The Donna Sgro label launched in 2007. Since that time the designer has explored hybrid modes of practice, and currently works as a fashion and textile design academic at the University of Technology, Sydney, whilst practicing and undertaking a PhD in fashion.

The Donna Sgro label combines slow, artisanal practices, which combine fashion, textile and artistic approaches. The resulting garments are unique and individual creations, which propose a careful and considered material nature. Often explored through exhibition contexts, the garments are not found in stores, but only available through personal interactions with the designer.

Donna studied a Bachelor of Arts (Art History and Theory) at the University of Sydney and then a Bachelor of Design in Fashion & Textiles at the University of Technology, Sydney. Her current PhD at RMIT University explores the complex relationship between a fashion design practice and the natural world, through a specific study of butterfly metamorphosis.

The Donna Sgro label has been represented at fashion events and exhibitions, including Rosemount Australia Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Festival, Brisbane Fashion Festival, Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo and Texworld Paris. In 2009, the label was part of the 1st SHINMAI Creator’s Project in Tokyo, supported by the Japan Fashion Week Organization to show at Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo.

Donna’s work is most recognized for her Morphotex Dress, which has been written about and exhibited world-wide, including as part of ‘Trash Fashion: Designing out Waste’ at the London Science Museum, ‘Fashionware’ at SXSW Austin, USA, and at the Renault Technocentre in Paris. Created by Teijin Fiber Japan, Morphotex is a world first in structural fibre technology. The dress currently forms part of the London Science Museum and Biomimicry Europa collections.

Donna’s work has evolved since Morphotex, and her current PhD project. She continues to practice and exhibit fashion and textiles, and explores alternative ways to experience garments, mostly through exhibition environments. Taking a slow, hand-crafted approach to making her garments and textiles, each becomes embedded with a unique story relating to the thematic underpinning of metamorphosis.

Donna also currently forms one half on an interdisciplinary practice, Make.Shift Concepts, where exhibition practice forms a key mechanism for experiencing the work, combining fashion, textiles, artistic and spatial practices.