“It was so different than anything I’d been exposed to, but it felt so right,” says Sabrina Batiz when asked about what influenced her decision to permanently study at SCAD Hong Kong. The senior fashion major spent the latter half of her time at SCAD halfway across the world in a city providing an abundance of resources and advantages when it came to creating her standout senior collection.
Blissful Migration is the title of Batiz’s collection. She herself is from a family of Hungarian immigrants who were able to peacefully immigrate into America without difficulty from the government. She juxtaposes this to migrations based in fear, such as the crisis happening on the southern border of the United States and the Syrian refugee crisis.
“I really want to spread a message of hope,” says Batiz, “because there has been so much negativity and misunderstanding of what migration can be.”
The potential for beauty, as opposed to the practicality of utilitarianism, is what drives the overall aesthetic of the collection. “I thought a lot about a privileged migration,” Batiz shares. She references Ellis Island and the influence of Victorian and Edwardian silhouettes full of frill and volume. The collection boasts gravity-defying garments that Batiz credits to years and years of sewing.
Batiz received three sponsorships to make this collection possible. She was one of five students to be provided Swarovski crystals. Thanks to the textile resources in Hong Kong, she sourced her own knitwear with yarn provided by HK Rita. Also, Levis Denim provided her with unwanted garments, which she upcycled in her collection. Batiz sees upcycling as a direction more designers should be going in because of its potential to impact sustainable production.
“It’s just how I want to do things,” Batiz says about working sustainably. The practice of sustainability has informed her perspective as she moves into the industry. While she does not see one clear career path ahead of her, Batiz knows that sustainability will be an important factor in her decision making.
Sustainability might be how she creates, but Batiz looks to many different sources for inspiration. “I like having a lot of noise around me,” she says, “and I like being able to choose whether or not to listen.” This noise is anything from magazines to book accounts on Instagram to her own photography. She carries around a film camera to capture her own experiences and how they can inform a concept or design.
Experience has been easy for her to come by in the past year, as she’s lived in three different continents: Asia, North America and Europe. In between her time in the states and returning to Hong Kong, Batiz took a position as a textile intern for a small designer in Finland. When asked, “why Finland,” the young designer answers, “I just wanted something different.”
With three visas qualifying her to work in three different continents, Batiz practically has the entire world in front of her as she moves into the industry. She welcomes all of it with open arms. With interests ranging from sourcing to design to consulting, for now, she is just looking for an opportunity that feels right.
Her tenacity and intelligence will no doubt help push the industry into a more sustainable and progressive form. When asked what is missing in fashion right now, a sustainable couture line is the first thing out of her mouth. She also admits that there is a lack of knowledge for construction amongst designers now. “Collaging and sketching doesn’t make you a designer. It’s the connection to creating.”
That connection is engrained in Batiz, having grown up in a household where the creativity was free flowing. However, when asked to reflect, Batiz pauses. “After questioning the science of it,” Batiz says about a hypothetical interaction with her younger self, “I think I’d just want to sit down and eat a meal I used to eat as a kid, like macaroni and hot dogs, and we could just talk.”
Just like Batiz, this answer is honest, simple. The young designer will be one to change the industry with her authenticity and drive towards sustainability. Sabrina Batiz might only be 12 hours ahead in Hong Kong but, in terms of the industry’s future, she is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest.
Photography by Ryan Williams