After recently visiting YKK consultant Kei Kagami and International Talent Support (ITS) accessory finalists Percy Lau and Cat Potter for our YKK collaboration, Dazed stopped by Ana Rajcevic’s Hackney studio to get a deeper insight into her surreal and sculptural headpieces. Only months after graduating from the Fashion Artefact MA at London College of Fashion, Rajcevic was awarded the prestigious 2012 ITS accessories award – and this year she returned to ITS as part of the accessories jury for the YKK team. 

Rajcevic’s work provokes the discussion of “can something that appears scary also be beautiful?” This perception of the human form and its beauty is explored with that of animals. “I’ve always been fascinated by how evolutionary theories started and how the mutation happened," she experiments with different materials and techniques to create sculptures reminiscent of horns and other features found on animals, transporting the wearer into a somewhat fictional state. Scary? Perhaps, when you’re wearing her ITS piece – an interlocking headpiece connected by YKK zips, that will temporarily eradicate your sense of sight. Beautiful? Definitely.