RFW New Wave Selection

ANDRADA NEGRU

Andrada Negru is an emerging Romanian designer, a graduate of the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in the Fashion and Apparel Design Department at the West University of Timișoara. She has developed an artistic vision centered on an interest in responsible fashion and uniqueness. Through the exploration of materials and textile techniques, her creations reflect a conceptual approach in which aesthetics and environmental responsibility meet.

The NOIR brand, created by Andrada, embodies her fundamental values in fashion design. Inspired by her own name, NOIR follows the principles of responsible fashion, eliminating the need to consume new resources through the use of reused materials and embracing zero-waste principles by valuing traditional techniques such as crochet. Each piece is individually crafted, becoming a unique and contemporary expression of style meant to celebrate the authenticity of those who wear it.

Instagram: @noir_design_official

CRISTINA ALEXANDRU

Cristina Alexandru is an emerging fashion designer whose creative practice merges artistic research with contemporary garment construction. A graduate of the Bachelor’s program and also Master’s degree program at the Faculty of Decorative Arts and Design, National University of Arts in Bucharest, Cristina approaches fashion as a medium for self-reflection, social commentary, and visual storytelling. Her work investigates the relationship between body, memory, and identity, treating garments as conceptual spaces where emotion, vulnerability, and presence become visible.

Her professional path includes internships in the studios of established Romanian designers such as Venera Arapu and Ioana Ciolacu, where she developed both technical precision and conceptual design thinking. These experiences contributed to shaping a balanced approach that integrates material execution with symbolic and narrative dimensions.

Cristina has participated in various workshops and competitions dedicated to emerging creatives, including the collaboration between V for Vintage, Istituto Europeo di Design, and Feeric Fashion Week. In this context, she presented her work on the Feeric runway, a pivotal moment that strengthened her confidence and affirmed the direction of her artistic voice.
Since her second year of study, Cristina has been co-hosting the show Art of Fashion / Fashion of Art at BlackRhino Radio, alongside designer and professor Sergiu Chihaia. This platform has allowed her to explore meaningful connections between fashion, visual arts, philosophy, contemporary culture, and critical theory, contributing to the development of an interdisciplinary and reflective perspective. Her artistic practice is guided by introspection, emotional sensitivity, and a deep awareness of the contemporary cultural landscape. Cristina works across multiple mediums, including fashion illustration, drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, volumetric studies, and textile modeling. Through these processes, she explores themes such as fragility, alienation, consumerism, sustainability, and the urgent need for authenticity. Each creation functions as a vessel of meaning, extending beyond utility to become a medium of communication and reflection.

DANIEL RADU

Founded three years ago, the Daniel Radu brand has established itself in the Romanian fashion landscape as a manifesto of balance between innovation, functionality, and contemporary aesthetics. The brand’s identity is defined by a clear vision: creating garments that meet the complex needs and aspirations of the modern individual, redefining the standards of elegance through the lens of urban dynamism.

At the core of every Daniel Radu collection lies solid academic expertise and a profound passion for garment structure. The brand constantly explores the boundaries of design, utilizing traditional tailoring knowledge to reinterpret it in a modern, relevant manner.

Daniel Radu aims to remain a leading force in the vanguard of Romanian fashion, continuously exploring the intersection between sportswear and high-fashion. It is a label dedicated to those seeking clothing with a distinct personality—pieces that do not merely clothe the body, but complement the character and ambition of those who wear them.

ERIN GREGOR

Erin Gregor is an emerging designer shaping the image of her own brand through a conceptual identity based on the idea that fashion is not only meant to be seen, but also deeply felt.

The creative practice blends atemporal emotion with contemporary aesthetics, creating garments that tell stories through essential forms, intimate gestures, and refined contrasts, in a direct dialogue between body, material, and the human gesture. The process emphasizes craftsmanship and the presence of the hand that shapes the form, texture, and construction of each piece.

Searching for meaning in the essence of things, Erin Gregor proposes an honest and subtle fashion language in which simplicity and intention become a space for interpretation, and clothing becomes a carrier of memory, identity, and emotion.

BEGHIM GENGHIZ

Genghiz Beghim is an emerging designer, a graduate of the Bachelor’s program, and a current Master’s student at the Fashion Design Department of the University of Arts and Design from Cluj-Napoca.

His work takes shape through the desire to create and showcase a profound and innovative creative universe. The relationship between his cultural and creative identity fuels a continuous exploration of what can become a distinctive aesthetic reference within the inner world of his creations. This duality reflects a constant struggle between conformity and authenticity, between the desire to belong and the need to assert oneself as a unique individual. With an oriental cultural background, his personal identity in relation to the contemporary social context becomes a defining element in his creative process.

A key aspect of his work is wardrobe versatility. Fashion is seen as a tool that allows a single garment to remain essential in multiple social contexts. His focus on pattern geometrization, through intelligent tailoring and timeless design, ensures that each piece adapts to the wearer’s personal style and needs. This approach not only enhances the durability and functionality of the garments but also reduces excessive consumption, promoting a more conscious lifestyle.

His pieces reflect an inner desire to stand out through subtle refinement, making an impact without ostentation. The continuous reinterpretation of refinement and the deconstruction of preconceived notions remain among his ongoing creative pursuits.

HAUS OF CREATIVE REBELLION

Gheorghe Marius-Daniel, a graduate of the West University of Timișoara – Faculty of Arts and Design, and currently a Master’s student at UNArte, creates and signs under the identity HAUS OF CREATIVE REBELLION – an artistic and fashion project that functions as both a personal and social manifesto. He made his runway debut at Romanian Fashion Week 2025 with the collection “SUPERSTAR,” a well-received project that secured his return for the 2026 edition.

HAUS OF CREATIVE REBELLION is a brand born from the desire to challenge norms, celebrate difference, and transform vulnerability into strength. Positioned at the intersection of fashion, art, and performance, the brand builds its identity from drag influences, avant-garde aesthetics, and pop culture, using rebellion as a creative and emotional language.

The brand’s aesthetic is defined by corsets and constrictive structures—elements that speak about control, sacrifice, and liberation. Each piece becomes an emotional armor, designed to be worn as a statement of identity rather than a simple garment.

The corset becomes the signature piece: not as a restrictive object, but as an architectural structure that shapes the body and expresses power. Each creation explores the tension between vulnerability and dominance, exposure and protection, shaping an industrial, dark-glam aesthetic where fragility is transformed into spectacle.

In a world that demands conformity, HAUS OF CREATIVE REBELLION responds with excess, emotion, and truth.

IONUȚ RĂZVAN

IONUȚ RĂZVAN is a fashion brand defined by emotion, narrative, and conceptual depth. Founded by a graduate of the University of Arts in Bucharest, Fashion Design department, the brand made its runway debut at Romanian Fashion Week 2024 with The Shirt You Left Me, a critically acclaimed collection that marked the beginning of an ongoing presence at the event, continuing into the 2025 edition.

At its core, IONUȚ RĂZVAN approaches fashion as a poetic medium. Each collection functions as a chapter within a larger emotional narrative, where garments are designed to evoke introspection, construct imagery, and leave a lasting psychological imprint. The brand brings theatricality and dramatic tension into contemporary Romanian fashion, transforming clothing into an expressive and reflective act.

The creative language of IONUȚ RĂZVAN is rooted in deconstructivism, translated through modern tailoring, experimental cuts, and reimagined classic forms. These innovative silhouettes challenge conventional aesthetics while exploring themes of vulnerability, conflict, and transformation.

Rejecting fashion as a purely commercial product, the brand positions itself as a platform for storytelling and dialogue, addressing meaningful and often intimate subjects. Pop culture plays a central role in shaping its visual universe, allowing the brand to move fluidly between conceptual fashion and contemporary cultural expression.

The brand’s vision has gained both national and international recognition. IONUȚ RĂZVAN marked its international debut on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival, where creations of the brand were worn by supermodel Coco Rocha, a defining moment that positioned the label within a global fashion context.

Beyond the runway, numerous influential artists have chosen to wear IONUȚ RĂZVAN creations on stage and during public appearances, including Irina Rimes, Antonia, Delia, Theo Rose, EMAA, MIRA, Erika Isac, Ștefania, Lidia Buble, Elena Gheorghe, and Jo, reinforcing the brand’s presence at the intersection of fashion, music, and performance.
IONUȚ RĂZVAN exists where fashion becomes narrative, clothing becomes emotion, and design becomes a form of contemporary poetry.

JESSICA DURCO

Jessica Durco is part of the new wave of emerging designers, with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Fashion Design from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca.

Her practice as a fashion designer is rooted in the philosophy of slow fashion, an intentional approach to creation that honors time, material, and the human hand, through the development of garments and textile objects that invite pause and reflection. For her, fashion is not about speed or seasonal urgency, but about personal imprint, marked by the desire to leave behind a gentle, thoughtfully constructed, and balanced message.

Crocheting lies at the foundation of the artistic universe she creates. The rhythmic and precise movement of the crochet hook is both a technical process and an emotional language, allowing for the slow construction of textures and facilitating the integration of fine details across every surface. Crocheted elements also represent a connection to tradition, memory, and stories quietly interwoven from generation to generation.

Each collection becomes a narrative woven from personal memories, imprints of early years, the textures of handmade objects, the joy of dress-up, and the warmth of familiar spaces. These memories are reflected in tactile details, playful color combinations, and silhouettes that evoke innocence while preserving maturity, thus transforming intimate experiences into shared emotional spaces through fashion.

Femininity is the key emotion guiding the young designer’s artistic direction, with a strong emphasis on the emotional dimension that runs throughout her work. She interprets it not as fragility, but as depth, intuition, and quiet strength.

MARIO BÎRDEAN

Mario Birdean is a young designer and graduate of the Fashion programs at the Faculty of Arts and Design, West University of Timișoara. He is currently developing his own brand, observing the dynamic between conceptual and wearable fashion.

His creative approach explores the emotional connection between individuals and material possessions, with memory as a central and constant element in his work. He views objects as witnesses of human existence and, through their reuse and recontextualization, offers them the opportunity to reveal and continue their story. Visually, his creations are distinguished by a poetic, sensitive, and refined aesthetic, marked by nostalgic undertones.

His most recent collection investigates the theme of a shared memory of repression. Starting from materials originating in the communist period, the past is brought into dialogue with the present, generating a tense exchange between ideologies, trends, and principles, mediated by the verses of Ana Blandiana.

MIHNEA COVACI

Mihnea Covaci is a Romanian fashion designer, a graduate of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, where he completed his bachelor’s degree, and of the National University of Arts in Bucharest, where he pursued a master’s degree in Fashion Design. He has captured the attention of the industry through a powerful and dramatic aesthetic. His creations have been worn by numerous public figures at events, concerts, and in fashion editorials.

The silhouettes proposed by Mihnea are feminine, sculptural, and elongated, emphasizing the strength and elegance of the wearer. Structured tailoring and dramatic proportions become defining elements of each collection, transforming every piece into an artistic statement.

Mihnea Covaci’s style is bold and intense, reflecting influences from punk subculture and African tribalism. His collections explore strong contrasts, juxtaposing rigid structure with the fluidity of fabrics, resulting in striking statement pieces.

PIF STEPHANO

Ionuț Piscureanu studied Fashion Design at the Faculty of Arts and Design in Timișoara, completing his Bachelor’s degree in 2018 and his Master’s degree in 2020 – the year he began creating and signing his work under the identity Pif Stephano.

The aesthetic of the Pif Stephano brand proposes statement creations anchored in present-day reality, drawing primary inspiration from contemporary society and culture.

The brand’s activity has been shaped through the presence of its fashion works in both national and international public spaces, through exhibition events such as TALENT 35, organized by the Royal Margareta of Romania Foundation at the National Museum of Art of Romania, as a former scholarship recipient of the Young Talents program; exhibitions within DIPLOMA Show and Romanian Design Week; as well as fashion shows and specialized competitions, being both finalist and winner of the RFW New Wave section at Romanian Creative Week 2025 and finalist of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Talent Award 2024. He has also presented his collections at Romanian Fashion Week, Feeric Fashion Week, Transilvania Fashion Festival, and Timișoara Fashion Week.

Fashion magazines have promoted and supported his work through editorials and articles – Pif Stephano has appeared on the covers of Elle and Unica, as well as in other publications such as Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, A List Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Beau Monde, and Fashion Premium Magazine. He has collaborated with numerous artists, public figures, and stylists, with his creations worn by personalities such as Delia, Loredana, Jo, Andia, Theo Rosé, Irina Rimes, Antonia, Alina Eremia, Alexandra Ungureanu, Alexandra Stan, Mira, Feli Donose, Eva Timush, Holy Molly, Ilinca Băcilă, Alina Ceușan, Deea Codrea, and Adelina Pestrițu. In terms of stylist collaborations, he has worked alongside Ovidiu Buta, Daria Georgescu, Cristina Crăciun, Madaliciousss, Amir Doboș, Hilke Muslim, Irina Hartia, Miruna Miu, and Ely Adam.

ROBERT ROCA

Robert Roca is one of the most promising young designers of Romania’s new generation, standing out through a romantic, flamboyant, and deeply androgynous aesthetic. Based in Bucharest, he has presented for two consecutive years at Romanian Creative Week and is set to mark his third appearance on the RCW runway this year, an affirmation of the consistency and strength of his creative vision. His trajectory has also been recognized through two consecutive nominations for the Best Young Designer award.

Robert Roca’s creations are distinguished by theatricality, carefully controlled construction, and a constant dialogue between rigidity and fluidity. His dramatic silhouettes, sculptural volumes, and elaborate details shape a visual universe in which the boundaries between masculine and feminine dissolve, and fashion becomes a territory of expressive freedom. Romance meets structure, vulnerability meets strength, resulting in a distinctive, mature, and self-assured aesthetic.

His upcoming collection, set to debut this year at Romanian Creative Week, marks the most personal stage of his artistic journey so far. Drawing inspiration from Gothic and Victorian influences, the proposed direction deepens the introspective dimension of his work and further solidifies the aesthetic identity that defines him. Through this collection, Robert Roca transforms emotion, fragility, and personal experience into a coherent, dramatic, and intense sartorial language.

A defining element of his brand is the total independence of his creative process. All pieces are entirely crafted by the designer himself, in his own home, in a true “one-man show.” From concept and sketch to pattern-making, construction, and final execution, every stage is personally overseen. This approach not only grants him complete artistic freedom but also amplifies the authenticity of each collection, turning garments into direct extensions of his inner universe.

Through consistency, vision, and a strongly defined aesthetic identity, Robert Roca continues to consolidate his position within the contemporary Romanian fashion scene, establishing himself as a name to watch among emerging designers.