Founded in 2020 and underpinned by a trio of principles that places environmental, economic, and social sustainability at the core of everything the eponymously named brand does, Romanian designer and Creative Director Alexandra Sipa creates the most stunning womenswear from upcycled and recycled materials.

Acutely aware of the environmental cost of overconsumption, Alexandra Sipa's is a fashion philosophy that's explored and embraced new design techniques which have enabled her to make clothes from recycled materials such as electrical wires from ethernet cables, lace sourced from shops that have ceased trading and other discarded fabrics.

Transparency is the benchmark of sustainability and hers is an inspiringly innovative blueprint for doing things differently. It's an environmental empathy that's seen the multi-disciplinarian diversify and take the staunchly sustainable techniques that have been so successfully applied to the creation of clothes and apply them to making furniture and other interior design pieces.

In the four years since the brand's inception, Alexandra's growth as a designer has aligned with her personal growth and that relationship we all have with our inner self. As she told Knuckle "Somewhere in my twenties I felt at ease again about who I am".

That personal progression is mirrored by her homeland's development in the thirty odd years since the dissolution of the Communist state. It's a societal recalibration which along with other freedoms has seen the emergence of a vibrant clubbing culture, one that Alexandra draws inspiration from, and which seems a gentler and less frantic version of its British equivalent.

Alexandra describes it as "raw, and fun and relaxed ... not necessarily getting wasted". Alexandra Sipa's brand identity has also been informed by her studies at Central Saint Martin's where she graduated with an MA and also by a series of internships including ones with industry heavyweights, Oscar de la Renta and Balenciaga. In a wide ranging and refreshingly candid interview Alexandra also spoke to Knuckle about fashion's unpaid intern culture which often takes more than it gives, and we're sure her thoughts will resonate with many who are working or have worked in the industry.

‍‍For those that might be new to Alexandra Sipa how would you describe the brand's aesthetic and the values which underpin everything you do?

Through my work I aim to create a specifically Romanian contemporary feeling of excessive fragility and authoritarian brutalism.

I explore medieval costume influences and fairytale silhouettes, while simultaneously pulling from the underground Romanian rave and club scene. Lace is animated through the lens of post- communist hopefulness in joyous colours, reminiscent of loud Eastern European music and celebration. 

What is your fashion background?

Pretty traditional I would say. I graduated with a BA in fashion from Central St Martins and during my degree I interned with Oscar de la Renta and Balenciaga. I kind of fell into opening a brand to be honest. When I was in my final year, I was nowhere near confident enough to think I could have my own brand. Then the pandemic happened, no one was hiring, and I managed to get a few freelance projects and collaborations the summer after graduation. That's when I thought maybe there's something here and I can actually have my own small company. I feel very lucky and grateful for all of this.

In what ways have those previous experiences shaped and informed the brand's ethos and identity?

The way I work, and think has been heavily influenced by the places I interned at. I was really fortunate to have this combination of a manual labour intensive internship and a design development internship. Being at Oscar de la Renta, in their atelier taught me discipline in every element of the production of a garment and at Balenciaga, in the design department, I learnt how a clear design language is built and how to be very intentional with my research and development process.

In my past collections, as well as this one, I like to explore the possibilities of lace. Lace is the fabric of my childhood; it reminds me of everything I grew up around in Romania. My grandma's curtains, her doilies, the lacy metalwork around old windows in Bucharest, the flowers carved into the city's walls. It is the fabric embedded with my most cherished memories. I have discovered a desire to reveal lace in different states; kitsch lace, rough lace, ultra sexualized lace, disintegrating lace, confetti lace as if caught in your clothes after a party.

Can you tell us about the sustainable practices that you follow, what type of waste and discarded materials you use to create your pieces and where you source them from?

In every collection I use different types of materials and processes. For example, most of the lace I used in the past two collections comes from a store that shut down this year in Bucharest, where I am based. I took every single lace roll they had. We also use remnants from factories in Italy regularly. Sometimes I would just be going into a secondhand store to shop for myself and find a garment with an interesting textile I wish to transform into something new.

For the recycled wire lace pieces, I use electrical wires (specifically Ethernet cables because they are so colourful and easy to handle). I took a break from using this material for clothes because I am focusing on producing furniture and other interior design decorations out of it.

How important to you is it to also ensure that the workers involved throughout your supply chain are treated fairly and remunerated in line with their worth?

It's crucial. If I don't have the money, I just won't ask someone to do it for free or for less than what they ask. I'll figure out a way to do it myself if necessary. I am personally more comfortable with that. If someone really wants to work with me on something, but I don't have the finances, I just ask what else I can give them as an equitable and fair exchange.

I interned for free a lot; all my friends did. I learnt immensely from those experiences and don't regret them at all, but I think it could've been done in a bit more respectful way by the employers. I found that it's usually internships that expect inhumane working hours from their interns more than the paid ones. If someone is working for free, for experience, at least set less work hours than the ones of an employee and focus on teaching them in that time. That's the only ethical way to exchange work for knowledge.

We loved your latest collection "Ye Olde Rave". What influences did you draw from to create it and in what ways does club culture inspire you?

A lot of my influences come from a place of self-discovery. My collections have become a way for me to project whatever qualities I would like to cultivate in myself, especially lately, being a woman in my mid-twenties. I noticed it happening a lot with my girlfriends. We tend, as women to be ourselves as children and be confident in what we like and what we say and as teenagers going through puberty that gets a bit muddy, trying to fit in, and we start to get embarrassed by who we are if we don't fit in. I personally experienced that. But somewhere in my twenties I felt at ease again about who I am and sort of reverted back to my childhood self and comfortable with being an insanely girly girl for example. It's like a weird process of finding out what I really like again.

About clubbing, moving back to Romania, I feel that it's so different from going out in the Weat. I love going out in Bucharest, I think it's just raw and fun and relaxed, and it goes on until 10 am the next morning but in kind of a weird, healthy, therapeutic way. Not necessarily getting wasted or anything, just enjoying the music, the crowd, taking it slower maybe throughout the night.

 For AW23 you collaborated with Romanian designer and shoemaker Marieta Gheorghiu to introduce a shoe line to the brand. What made you choose footwear and how important to you is it to collaborate with fellow Romanian designers, creatives and artisans?

Marieta is amazing, she is my angel shoe wizard. I have been drawing for years options for shoes to have as a base to build on, but I found it quite hard to find shoe designers to collaborate with in Bucharest. When I found her, we clicked instantly, and she understood right away what I wanted from my designs and the level of refinement and attention to details I required.

We don't have much of a fashion industry at all in Romania, which makes sense considering it's only been around thirty years since the fall of communism. I want to start building a small community of like-minded creatives here.

Kate Nash wore your incredible AW23 pieces on stage last year. How did that come about and how exciting was it to see your clothes being worn by a star of that magnitude?

Matt King, her stylist, contacted us about a few pieces for her shows last Summer. I was beyond excited. I love her music, her energy, she is so playful and strong while exuding this fairy-like aura.

How do you want the person who wears Alexandra Sipa to feel about themselves and the world around them when they wear one of your creations?

Ideally looking like an Eastern European Barbie movie princess.

What are your ambitions and aspirations for the brand for this year and beyond?

Product-wise, we are focusing on expanding the shoe line and also creating some commercially creative products to be sold all year round on our website. I just hope to continue growing at the pace we already have and keep working on the fashion side of the brand as well as the more unconventional collaborations we've been doing. For example, most of 2023 was spent collaborating to create artisanal scratching mats for cats. I think I constantly have so many ideas beyond the realm of clothing, and I love exploring my creativity in all areas; art, interior design, product design etc. I love building an entire universe for people to live in.

Many thanks to Alexandra for taking the time to speak to Knuckle