The story of the largest Bulgarian dress | Ivan Donev | TEDxVitosha

Haute couture designer Ivan Donev explores how traditional Bulgarian heritage can serve as raw material for the future of fashion. He connects his international runway career with Bulgarian heirloom chests and handwork. The talk presents his latest creation, a large Bulgarian dress woven by the hands of mothers and grandmothers. The focus is on repairing, preserving and passing on old materials as part of modern design.

• Tradition as a source for modern design
• From global runways to Bulgarian heirloom chests
• A large dress woven by hand as the latest creation

Taking us on a journey from global runways to traditional Bulgarian heritage, internationally acclaimed Haute Couture designer Ivan Donev proves how the past can serve as the ultimate fabric for the future. He challenges our perception of modern design, leaving us with a provocative question: what if tradition isn't out of style at all? A renowned designer with an international career and an alumnus of Koefia—Rome’s oldest haute couture academy, Ivan Donev is the recipient of 34 international fashion accolades. His collections have been showcased all around teh world and his creations have been featured on the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and ELLE, and on the podiums of Rome, Milan, Tokyo, New York, Beijing, Dubai, and Doha to Chicago. Ivan brings a unique perspective on fashion to our stage — one where the most valuable material is history, and the most modern approach is creating rather than discarding. Long before ""slow fashion"" became a global topic, he already knew how to repurpose the old - to mend, to preserve, and to pass things on. Ivan will take us on a journey from global runways to Bulgarian heirloom chests, showing us how the past can serve as the raw material for the future through his latest creation The largest Bulgarian Dress woven by the golden hands of our mothers and grandmothers. " This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx