Success Stories

Julina Vanille Bezold

Julina Vanille Bezold is a Swiss-German multidisciplinary-oriented designer that currently calls West Germany home. With a diverse academic repertoire, including having studied at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Polimoda in Florence and Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), she graduated in 2019 at the Maastricht Academy for Fine Arts. Julina describes herself as a hybrid that does not confine herself to 1 form of creative expression: from garments to jewelry and performance to film. A recurring theme in her work is eclecticism; “People rarely understand the universe of my body of work right away, I contain multitudes”. Even though Julina has had her introduction to different traditional crafts and analogue techniques of production already, she has the notion it’s about time to bridge to the digital world. She would love to explore 3D-printing, digital prototyping, augmented or virtual reality. She also wants to dive deeper into artistic research and theatre production. Julina looks forward to start the Disarming Design Master at Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, where she can be taken into the field of socio-political design. It gives her the freedom to work with the question of what design can offer in situations of political oppression, especially in Palestine. Julina would like to see herself develop into someone who can proudly name herself a ‘Hybrid Designer’.

Julina’s involvement with FASHIONCLASH started in 2017 when her class was asked to create different performances around the theme of ‘Fashion Makes Sense’ to celebrate the opening of the Forza Fashion House. In 2018 she did some freelance styling/ costume for the piece ‘In our fountain’ by students of Toneelacademie Maastricht. In 2019 she participated in the Body Alumni show during FASHIONCLASH Festival and simultaneously took part in the ‘Class of 2019’ exhibition. In December 2019 she represented Germany and Switzerland in the pop-up atelier of Dress to Protest and her work was also for sale in the Christmas Designer Pop-Up Store. “I am looking forward to more to come.”

One of the moments she considers a highlight of her career is definitely the bond that she shares with FASHIONCLASH. This connection flowed into the highlight of the ‘Body Alumni Show’ during FASHIONCLASH Festival 2019. “Besides the precious gift of career and network building, they confirmed that I am not the only one with an alternative view on the fashion industry. Coming from AMFI back then, I thought this was the only ‘official’ way of doing body-related design. FASHIONCLASH has proven me different. Their unique and independent creative spirit has given rise to a total new spectrum of perspectives in this field.” Being requested for festivals, talks, exhibitions is always stroking the soul of Julina’s creative confidence. She felt amazing when she received the request to participate in ‘Dutch Design Week’. “I also remember the day so well, when Sruli Recht asked me to intern for him. That was gold!”

Julina has a prosperous vision for the future. In 10 years’ time she would like to see herself opening an artistic centre on the island of Corsica. “A place where artists and designers of different disciplines, cultures and nationalities can gather to work on their projects. I would love to offer residencies, work labs, connect people to create international collaborations and to institutions that have a more scientific focus. Never for money, always for love - can I dream out loud?” She aims for a world where there is more balance; within people, environmentally, socially and economically. A world where transparency, peace and respect are key. “Energy flows where attention goes”