Winding wooden logs engaged by metal structures were positioned around the models in Ancuta Sarca’s AW23 presentation. The Fashion East alumni and 2022 ANDAM Fashion Awards finalist, has made a name for herself with her take on hybrid trainers back in 2019 and returns to the schedule with a bang!

After spending time in her Romanian home town of Negrești-Oaș which is nestled between hills and forest, the designer went alpine this season. “I tried to introduce a new lease of life into my work through nature and organic textures,” she tells Because over the thumping soundtrack of the presentation. Models stood in pairs, another of her references was artificial intelligence and its ability to create exact replicas. On the whole, the collection made us question how technology and nature might coexist in the future. 




After branching into bags last season, the designers presented faux shearling and fur accessories with high-shine silver boots and square-toed loafers to match, some punctuated with the metal plates of the brand's “Sarca” logo. Signature sport’s mesh and Nike ticks were spotted across footwear, marking her ongoing repurposing of the American sportswear brand.

After upcycling Skims deadstock for SS23, this season Ancuta reworked fabric from Lee jeans into cut-out dresses, bralettes, detachable sleeves and a deadstock faux shearling trim. Could this be a nod to ready to wear? For now, the designer is “taking one step at a time,” she says with a grin.