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Piotr Sieklucki talks with Tomasz Armada—a fashion designer and visual artist—about fashion, youth, and beauty.

Who is the designer capable of unleashing a creative Armageddon and transforming Polish heritage into something fresh, bold, and inclusive?

Through fashion, Tomasz Armada examines contemporary issues such as techno-feudalism, overproduction, and the theatricalization of life. His collection will be showcased during the Climate Congress in Łódź.

He draws inspiration from the history and culture of Łódź. In his work, he uses recycling and upcycling—old curtains, sweaters, and sweatshirts he’s unearthed in thrift stores are transformed in his hands into collections that make it onto the runway.

Poland’s appetite for fashion is one of the most important themes in the work of Tomasz Armada, who, through his clothing designs, styling (the designer often collaborates with costume designer Hanka Podraza), and photo shoots, captures national fantasies as well as the class aspirations of Polish men and women and our (often unfulfilled) consumer desires.

Tomasz Armada is a young designer. The artist’s work caught the attention of the editors of the American edition of *Vogue*, who included him on their list of the most promising designers. How has this recognition changed his life? You’ll find out in our feature.

The fashion industry is constantly changing, and the pandemic has further accelerated some of these changes. While designers have begun to get us used to virtual shows–in the form of games or 3D presentations—young Polish designers continue to focus on real-life experiences.

Tomasz Armada stosuje radykalne podejście do upcyklingu – przeszukuje sklepy z używaną odzieżą w poszukiwaniu tego, co nazywa „szmatami”, oraz zbiera plastikowe torby, w których na lokalnym bazarze pakowano warzywa. Do jednego ze swoich najwcześniejszych projektów ten 26-letni polski projektant wykorzystał nawet wypełnienie z worków, w których przewożono cebulę, jako „futro” dla pluszowej zabawki. „W Polsce mamy ograniczony dostęp do ciekawych tkanin” – mówi Armada. „Muszę łączyć różne materiały, wymyślać dziwne rozwiązania albo szukać rzeczy dobrej jakości w sklepach z odzieżą używaną”.

A post-punk sensation on the Polish music and performance scene, the Gniezno-based duo SIKSA—winners of the 2020 Polityka Passport Award—surprises audiences with their first original theatrical production, “On Acts That Destroy the Story.” Freckled cowgirls in slippers take the stage at Komuna Warszawa, but instead of a story of revenge, we get a playful take on the Western genre—a tale of storytelling. Lyrical, tender, childlike, bittersweet.

Tomasz Armada, an outsider in the Polish fashion scene, teams up with journalist Agata Pyzik for the “Równorodność” exhibition-collection to show—in a reflective, ruthless, and witty way—the passionate contempt with which Polish men and women view and describe themselves. “I wanted people to realize that, despite what they may think, they are still prisoners of stereotypes, of dividing people into better and worse. And oversimplifications are always ridiculous and hopeless,” explains Tomasz Armada.

Who are contemporary Poles? This question served as the starting point for Tomasz Armada’s exhibition “Równorodność” at the Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw—an exhibition that serves as a mirror in which each of us should see ourselves.

Tomasz Armada invites you to explore a gallery of archetypes from the Polish collective imagination at the exhibition “Równorodność.” Karolina Sulej dissects, layer by layer, the scarecrows of our contemporary imagination that he presents—constructed from clothes and objects.

Interview with Tomasz Armada and Anna Grunwald, curator of the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw.

Velour and polyester, organza and latex, draping and smoothness, navy blue and the rainbow. The materiality of Tomasz Armada’s clothing, on display at the Ethnographic Museum, takes on a political character

Make your dreams come true—go after them, but do it together. And let them be down-to-earth, small dreams that can actually come true.

Fashion photographs from 1918 to the present, archival magazines and catalogs, as well as clothing by young designers inspired by the photographs. The “Fort” Institute of Photography Gallery is hosting the exhibition “Dangerous Shots.”

Armada, quoting a message to Guzik, wrote on his recycled coat: “Let’s create a retreat for designers. Far from the fashion calendar, from the pressure to constantly create something new, and from H&M, which releases a new collection every week.” And “Niebieskie Psy” is exactly that kind of retreat for designers—because where better to go for a retreat than to the seaside?

Curated by Gabriela Warzycka-Tutak, the exhibition “Blue Dogs” straddles the line between art and fashion. This is where the journey to an unknown land begins—a journey to which the Gdańsk City Gallery invites you.

Cover of the quarterly magazine *Szum* No. 25/2019

A few days ago, the Gdańsk City Gallery hosted the opening of an exhibition titled “Blue Dogs.” The artists are Pat Guzik and Tomasz Armada; the curator is Gabriela Warzycka-Tutak; and Marcel Kaczmarek is responsible for the visual identity.

Poland’s emerging designers are serving kinky, sustainable, and reactionary fashion looks.

DML, unlike almost any other young Polish artist, instinctively senses the spirit of our times – with its intrusive commodification and downright pornography of youth and rebellion – while Tomasz Armada, the lead designer, has come to understand that fashion is simply a business, one of the largest industries in the world, and something that drives consumption and production more than anything else.

As we cross the threshold of Maurycy Poznański’s palace—overflowing with stucco decorations and home to the Museum of Art in Łódź since the postwar period—we find ourselves in a space straight out of a shopping mall. This is the first installment of the “Prototypes” project (February 22–April 21, 2019), to which the Limanka Fashion House was invited.

“The only thing you'll walk away with is an Instagram photo that will make you look like someone interested in art and fashion,” say the creators of Limanka Fashion House. The artistic collective is taking on the collections of the Łódź Museum of Art, preparing a subversive exhibition about the phenomenon of fast fashion.

“The Great Sarmatians of This Country / The Great Sarmatian Women of This Country” is a well-curated, attractive, and educational exhibition. But isn’t that too little, given the myth of the “Great Sarmatians” and the need to debunk it? Where are those wild rides, where is the Slavic imagination, where is the specter of Sarmatian melancholy?

A rising star of the Polish offbeat fashion scene. In interviews, he repeats like a mantra that his clothes are just rags. Is this a performance with fashion as a backdrop, or is it the other way around?

The Sarmatians were a nomadic tribe governed by a matriarchal system. They had little in common with the legend of the nobility that we still live by in Poland. Marcin Różyc’s new exhibition ruthlessly debunks patriotic myths.

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When we spoke with him earlier this year, he made the unprecedented claim that his clothes weren’t “outfits” at all, but just rags. Today, to mark the release of his latest collection, we’re featuring photos of his designs and asking the designer 5 quick questions.

It was an extraordinary spectacle. Tomasz Armada, a designer and member of the Limanka Fashion House – who describes himself as a “fashion creature” – presented his latest performance-collection, “Long Live Freedom and Liberty,” as part of the Łódź Four Cultures Festival.

The designer became famous for blending Sarmatian national fashion with the style of contemporary “dresiarze” and the aesthetic of the markets in Łódź—or, more precisely, Bałuty. His latest collection is, once again, a story about Poland, rich in autobiographical themes.

Tomasz Armada is a fashion designer, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, and the creative director of the Limanka Fashion House. We talk with Tomasz about his work on the new collection and the emotions associated with it; he explains what annoys him about the Polish fashion world and what his approach to it is.

We’d like to introduce you to a young designer who is still relatively unknown but whose early work is more than promising. Tomasz Armada, a 21-year-old from Łódź, Poland, did us the honor of answering our questions so we could learn a little more about him and his creative world.

KALTBLUT presents: Hate couture by Tomasz Armada. Photography by Aga Murak.

Tomasz Armada of the Limanka Fashion House organized one of the most important fashion shows in the history of Polish fashion in Kraków. The show had a patriotic theme and was inspired by a love for the homeland. The techno-rap-punk-style show was opened by singer Siksa.

Let's talk, man-to-man. Lately, you've been emphasizing that a lot—your “Bałucian” or “Łódź” identity—even though you're not actually from here.