Here in InconnuLAB we are so excited to continue the Creative Minds series, in which we aim to feature creative people from all over the world, who inspire us with their ideas, originality and imagination.
So, we are more than happy to present to you our second featured brand Dezen Dezen and the two guys behind it, Marco and Michele, who make hand-printed apparel using serigraphy techniques.
Sometimes getting fired from a full time job for a creative mind can be more of a blessing than a curse. That’s what happened last summer to Marco, journalist, insurer and corporate dummy and Michele a graphic designer and instagramer. Instead of getting in the vicious circle of self pity and depression they started to fantasize how could they revive Marco’s family manufacture which has been printing east-Europe’s traditional foulards for more than 70 years. Not really conscious of what they were getting into, in summer 2014 they dusted off old silkscreens that have from 30 to 100 years and started again hand printing the dezens – designs which were handed down for centuries on head scarves in whole Europe. The choice of a t-shirt as a contemporary clothing item on which to print them came naturally: just like the foulard once, t-shirts are worn, changed and washed every day.
Since Dezen Dezen was born these two guys didn’t stop for a minute. Participating in more than 15 markets in Italy, Croatia, Austria and Germany they had the opportunity to present their project to a vast and different public in the last year. The comments are usually the same: people like the cotton which is carefully picked, full and soft to the touch but above all easy to maintain. Their cuts are universal and every garment is adorned with an enchanting hand printed dezen.
It took them countless hours of patience in the old workshop in Zagreb to adapt the foulard printing technique in order to make a nice but unique print on an already sewn garment. Although maniacally precise, not two of their products will ever be the same. In an era where a t-shirt can practically come out of your inkjet printer this duo employs up to three hours in preparing and printing a single garment.
From the care label to the hang tag everything is hand made with love and attention. And when they are not stained with printing inks Michele, as a true digital craftsman, takes care of the social media presence and online life of Dezen Dezen from his smartphone while Marco deals with everything that has to do with pen, papers and boring stuff.
Unfortunately, the historical workshop in Zagreb was severely damaged in a fire some 8 years ago and not fully functional, that’s why Marco and Michele are now working on opening an artisanal laboratory in the heart of Trieste’s handmade district Cavana.
If you want to know when they will be around on a market nearby follow them on facebook and instagram and to check out their lovely t-shirts, dresses and reinvented foulards visit their etsy shop or website.
