Pareidolia is the tendency for incorrect perception of a stimulus as an object, pattern or
meaning known to the observer. For example, seeing objects or faces in clouds.
Since her childhood, womenswear designer Max Zara Sterck has seen inanimate objects take
the shape of dresses or tops before her eyes.
She would take these unassuming items home with her and sketch a female body around the
object. From a humble plastic bottle to a crumpled candy wrapper, no item escaped the
designer’s childhood imagination.
Nowadays, Max Zara takes abstract lines and shapes as her inspiration and intuitively
considers how these shapes could come to form a garment. By draping with fabric across a
mannequin or a live model, the designer considers how abstract lines and shapes can be
transformed into designs.
The Pareidolia collection is a celebration of human imagination.
By starting with an abstract shape rather than a pattern, the designer naturally reinvents the
design process.
When looking at the silhouettes, the designer developed a diagonal one which defies rigid
pattern-cutting methods. Through the correct placement of seams, the female body is
accentuated and able to move freely, while encouraging a powerful attitude.
Max Zara prefers to design mostly in black and white as these colours allow her to focus on the
quality of shapes and the movement of her designs.
The collection’s starting point were elastics, with the main fabrics being wool and satin silk. To
create a fitted silhouette as well as a draped, voluminous one, she combines traditional fabrics
with elastics. At the same time, the movement of the fabric remains important to fit the body
and the garment’s silhouette.
Max Zara Sterck’s personal fascination with the body and movement are the main inspirations
behind her work: creating sculptural pieces by following the interaction between the body and
the fabric in movement.
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