CGD

Several first places can be attributed to Zoltán Tóth's Labora collection within the scope of his work. For the first time, he presents a complete and comprehensive men's assortment of garments, as seen in a traditional wardrobe, and for the first time, he uses his creative vision in two special collaborations: with Salon No.4, a tailoring and production studio, and Alex Monhart, designer of bags and accessories. Zoltán Tóth has succeeded in harmoniously combining all the elements into a strong collection with a clear artistic vision and clear personal style.

The source of inspiration has traditionally been architecture, so characteristic of Tóth's work. But while in previous years he had explored construction and deconstruction, questions of the proportion of body and mass, and perhaps the workings of light in relation to objects, this time he explored architecture in a much more intimate way. He observed the haptic and visual details and the ability of architecture and interiors to influence feelings. He pedantically deciphered the atmospheric elements in Czechoslovak brutalist architecture and translated them into the language of fashion design. Extreme attention is paid to textures – the Japanese fabrics he uses are surprisingly different when touched and when observed from a distance. Just like the brutalist interiors of the 1970s, where lacquered wood was presented as plastic, concrete looked like hand-woven fabric and vice versa. Quality materials have thus once again become a strong building block, and once again the collection includes recycled and environmentally friendly materials, too. Zoltán's emphasis on sustainability is an obvious and perfectly natural value to him.

One thing, however, can’t be found in the Labora collection: nostalgia. Zoltán cleverly and confidently resists any retro elements and also, as always, strongly resists romanticism and romanticization. He relentlessly sets all his garments in the present, seeking an adequate and relevant relationship to how we live today, and how we want to live in the future. While the women's and men's items intertwine fluidly and the pieces can be freely combined and interchanged, they never lose their sexual charge. Zoltan has the paradoxical ability to preserve what is essential in us in its cuts and silhouettes. Without show or mannerisms, but with a magnetic attraction.

Jan Králíček