Interview: Boris Kargotić, fashion designer Fashion should always be fun and never a burden
Demode grew swiftly from a hobby to a brand. Before I’d even found my footing, there were already employees, dresses were already being sewn and we were already being worn by Madonna. Yes, that Madonna! B oris Kargotić (35), owner of extravagant fash- ion brand Demode, is a fashion designer, ap- plied artist, graduate actor and native of Split, who arrived in Belgrade in 2012, in the belief that – as he says – he would reach the lights of the stage in the ‘Balkan Hollywood’. That didn't happen, and his life’s journey turned in an unexpected direction when he discovered that he is capable of creating jewel- lery, but also that he was being sought by Madonna… Your dreams of acting brought you from Split to Belgrade. How do you recall that period? “I remember arriving in Belgrade late at night and the bus crossing Branko's Bridge. Orange lights, the Ušće confluence and energy that filled me from head to toe, overwhelming and mesmerising me… It was then that I thought that if I was to live in the Balkans, then I would definitely do so in this city: Belgrade. I dreamt that I would perform at theatre Atelje 212, and that I would cheat on it with Terazije Theatre. I considered Belgrade the Hol- lywood of the Balkans, a cultural capital and a metrop- olis. I felt the energy of a real metropolis, I felt the pos- sibilities, I felt alive. I fell in love. Acting happened for me, but not in the way that I’d wanted...” You’ve always been excessively ambitious and forceful in everything you’ve wanted and done. And insufficiently patient to await your role in Belgrade ... “My acting life unfolded too slowly, so I worked in parallel by opening an acting school and starting to make jewellery. That was all I knew how to do. If I’d known how to clean, I’d probably have done that too. I didn't sit and wait, but nor did I sleep peacefully. I spent my nights sitting and sweating on what tomorrow would bring.” And then came your fateful descent into a basement… “I was received in an adorable apartment on Pet- lovo brdo, in a cute basement that had been decorated like a room, by a wonderful family. They cared for me and loved me like their own child. I have an unbreakable bond with them today; they are my Serbian family. In a sea of melodrama, dreams, insomnia, one wonderful acquaintance of mine helped me figure out what to do and that led to the emergence of Demode.”
Kad kreiram modele,
zamišljam jaku ženu, pametnu i nezavisnu As my designs emerge, I imagine a strong woman, intelligent and independent
So, the brand was born as handmade jewellery in a basement? “It was meant to be a temporary way of maintain- ing myself until I experienced my Hollywood. Demode was salvation to prevent me from dying of inactivity, but Demode grew swiftly from a hobby to a brand. Be- fore I’d even found my footing and figured out what was happening, it was already no longer a home craft oper- ation; it wasn’t jewellery, but a firm. There were already employees, responsibility, banks and post offices. Dress- es were already being sewn. And boom - we were being worn by Madonna. Yes, that Madonna! Six months af- ter I started making clothing! Demode became my life, and acting disappeared somewhere.” Remind us of the interesting story of how you almost missed Madonna's call. “One evening, I was sitting in my then studio. And someone called and started speaking in English. I thought someone was messing with me and I hung up. He later called back and explained what it was about. He’d sent
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