IVANKA, the world renowned design company for concrete has opened its doors to the fashion world. Founded in 2003, the Budapest headquartered firm IVANKA is known as one of the most design conscious concrete companies in the world. Its founders Katalin and Andras Ivanka made their fashion line debut after 2 years of development at the Paris Fashion Week 2012 with their very 'concrete' first ready-to-wear & accessories collection.

Named Concrete Genesis, their first collection was developed through a new textile-innovation based on the aesthetic qualities of concrete where it is also now used as a textile. Their SS13 collection was warmly welcomed by buyers from Milan to China. Their focus is to present both the fragile and strong side of all women, placing special attention on their individuality. ‘Our goal is to illustrate the delicate contrast and cross gender phenomena through different shapes and materials - playing with contrasts of hard concrete and soft fabric’ says Katalin Ivanka. Looking through their clothing collection, one cannot fail to notice the architectural influence in the lines and angles in features such as the dominant sharp angles of the collars and the exposed seaming in their accessory line.

Consisting of clutches, weekend bags & I-pad cases amongst others, the simplistic geometric shapes are very distinctive. Looking at the zip clutches is like a looking at a mini model of hard and soft finishes. Surrounding the bag is the hard surface concrete and the insertion is the soft fabric material, reminiscent of an outside exterior cladding structure and the interiors within. The pure concrete rectangular clutch with its raw design is a simplistic form of all that these accessories stand for. Giving primary notice to the material itself and its flexibility this whole concept has taken our notion of material to a very different level.

With the colour palette limited to natural tones combined with the very apparent structural language, the continuation to the company’s ideology is apparent. Ranging from grey to brown, the tones are kept to an absolute architectural reference. Everything about the designs is quite simplistic and robust whilst focusing on the textile of the concrete pattern on the fabrics and hard surfaces.

IVANKA has entered into the world of fashion whilst keeping the successful architectural knowledge that they have amassed of their materials, intact.  It is easy to spot that these creations have come about due to their immense knowledge of the material itself. This, in itself, is a new way of looking at concrete.