Announcement    Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova is a Slovak fashion designer who combines elements of Slovak tradition with
clothing. She focuses mostly on formal clothing, where you can see splendid Slovak folk embroidery. Their
tradition and colors give the clothes originality and imagination.
In cooperation with Anna Szabová she won 1st place in the 2006 Golden Fatima competition in Slovakia for
original elaboration, design and execution.
Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova was born in 1987 and studied fashion design and modeling at the High School of
Fashion. After completing her studies, she continued to study Arts at the University of Prešov in Prešov. At
the University, she gradually focused not only on the study of clothing but also photography.
On the initiative of her husband, she founded a fashion studio in October 2011. Since then, she has been
bringing fabulous designs to the Slovak market with her sense and attention to detail by combining clothing
and tradition. Her dream is to preserve heritage for the next generation. Even as a little girl, she cut her
mother's old skirts and dreamed of great evening dresses. She sees folk embroidery as an endless well of
inspiration that must be preserved for the next generations. Her work is inspired by Slovak folk embroidery,
using mainly Slavic patterns and ornaments and transforming them into a modern sophisticated form.
Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova focuses mainly on fashion sustainability, experimenting with patterns and storing
them in small parts, combining various processing technologies and techniques. She takes into account the
requirements of clients and emphasizes the quality of materials and its processing, aesthetics and the
overall impression in the presentation.
It is not so difficult to come up with ideas of clothes today, considering the available materials, how much
inspiration is around us, on the Internet, etc. Therefore, since the foundation of the studio, extreme
emphasis has been placed on linking the processing and presentation, taking into account the choice of
material. The current possibilities of material production using embroidery and laser machines enable the
studio to produce luxury materials made directly in the heart of the studio.
As the studio and its possibilities grow, it also receives various cooperation with prominent individuals of the
Slovak and foreign scene. In recent years, Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova has found her muse and friend in the
Slovak singer Sima Martausová, whom she dressed for the prestigious Slovak Oto Awards.
In addition to Sima Martausová, Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova also cooperated with the singer Mária Čírová,
whom she made a custom-made folk dress for her round annual concert. The next steps in her career path
include singers Katka Knechtová, Silvia Sarkozy, or the famous Slovak comedian Evelyn. Abroad at the
Alta Roma Fashion Week, her studio was presented by Linda Pavlova.
She cooperates and joins her forces with various Slovak producers every year. We would like to introduce
the Slovak wreath designer Magaela, with whom their cooperation led to publication in the fashion
magazine Vogue. For many years she has been cooperating with the jewelry designer Zuzana Barčáková,
where she mutually complements her soutache (sujtáš) art by the embroidered models of Jaroslava Wurll
Kocanová.
The fabulous wedding dresses also deserved a place in the Slovak wedding editorial under the auspices of
Egon Grznarik's Nevesta.sk magazine.
Her creations and sense of creativity were also noticed by the Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia, which
awarded her in 2019 as Young Innovative Entrepreneur of 2019. 2016 became a key year for Jaroslava
Wurll Kocanova in her work when she presented the Slavianka collection. Slavianka is an inspiration of
Slovak folk art mainly, it is a connection of Slovak folk culture to modern times, preservation of tradition and
heritage. This collection is the most extensive one she has created so far. She has worked on it for 7 years,
which she followed through with a successful end in early 2019. In the Slavianka collection, she designed
over 300 different design variants. For the first time she used several processing techniques and
cooperated with several producers for her presentation at the Košice fashion week.
The last collection of Poľana brought delicate charm and precision in processing.
This collection was presented magnificently in cooperation with the Slovak choreographer and folklorist
Peter Kocák, uniting the Slovak folk heritage. We could see 100-year-old costumes from all over Slovakia
and combination of folk tradition and modern clothes by Jaroslava Wurll Kocanova on one catwalk.
"Folklore is a disease for me, which has been growing in me since I was 12, when I learned to embroider by
hand, and since then it has always absorbed me and has brought new possibilities."