Made in Newtown fashion designer Natalija Rushidi
Designing Collections Like Art Series: Inside the Creative World of Natalija Rushidi
In the world of slow fashion, where clothing is more than a trend and design is more than decoration, Natalija Rushidi stands out as a creator who treats every collection as an unfolding art series. Her work sits at the intersection of fashion, emotion, and storytelling — a practice shaped by curiosity, experimentation, and a deep belief that clothes hold meaning far beyond how they appear. Each season is not just a range of garments; it is a thoughtfully constructed narrative, a gallery of wearable pieces that embody mood, memory, and movement.
The Concept First, Clothing Second
For Rushidi, creativity never begins with fabric or sketches. It begins with a feeling — a pulse in the air that she senses long before it becomes visual. Each collection starts with a theme that spirals into questions: What does this moment mean? What needs to be said? What are people feeling but not expressing? These questions transform into concepts, and those concepts form the foundation of what later becomes the season's aesthetic.
Her collections operate the way an artist constructs a body of work. She thinks in series, not single pieces. Each garment is a chapter, and the full collection is the story. This approach allows for depth and cohesion, where silhouettes connect to each other the way brushstrokes connect across a canvas.
Emotions as Materials
Rushidi often describes emotion as her most reliable material. While others rely on trends, colour forecasts, or data, she tunes into internal tension, joy, melancholy, or longing — translating them into texture, structure, and shape. The result is clothing that doesn’t just look expressive but feels expressive.
In her design process, she gives herself permission to sit with complicated emotions. Anxiety, fear, hope, exhilaration — all become creative fuel. This emotional honesty is what gives her collections their unmistakable depth. Every drape, angle, and detail is infused with the energy she was feeling while creating.
The Artistic Discipline Behind Spontaneity
Though her creativity feels fluid, there is structure behind the spontaneity. Rushidi uses moodboards like art studios use reference walls. Colours, poems, sketches, photographs, and fragments of ideas get layered in conversation with each other. Over time they start to shape a world — a world that the collection must live within.
She refines silhouettes the way sculptors refine form, repeatedly adjusting proportion until the garment speaks the right emotional language. Some pieces arrive in a flash; others take months to resolve. But she doesn’t rush the process. The collection is ready only when the story is complete.
Each Collection as a Dialogue
One signature of her approach is that she treats every collection as a dialogue: a conversation with herself, with the wearer, and with the world. Clothes are not static objects in her universe. They are communicators — they hold emotion, they trigger memory, and they express identity.
This dialogue-driven approach is why her customers often describe feeling seen or understood when they wear her designs. Rushidi doesn’t create for an audience; she creates with them in mind, leaving space for personal interpretation. Just as art invites viewers to find their own meaning, her collections invite wearers to express their own story.
Fashion as a Force for Perception
At the core of her philosophy is a belief that fashion is a tool for shifting perception. She challenges how clothing is traditionally seen — not simply as a commercial product, but as an invitation to self-expression and emotional connection. With each new season, she aims to introduce a fresh way of relating to clothes: not as something to impress others, but as something that feels like home on the body.
The Result: Collections That Resonate
Because she designs like an artist, her collections resonate in a way fast fashion never can. They carry intention. They hold spirit. They move people — not through spectacle, but through authenticity.
For Natalija Rushidi, creativity is not a technique. It is a way of seeing the world. And every collection is an art series that brings that vision to life.
