Nothing feels better than to be complimented on an outfit. If you're someone who thrives on being bold and adventurous with your look, Prahsik is the designer for you.  Prahsik offers fashionable, ready-to-wear clothing with tailored lines, bold colours and elegant touches. The muse for the brand is the professional career women. The designs are modern and sophisticated flatterring the shapes and curves of feminine beauty. The brand was founded in 2014 by Janis Procyk who lives and designs in Regina, SK.

For a new label in town, Prahsik is being recognized across the country for their fashion forward designs.  In 2014, Prahsik was the recipient of the Fashion Forward Emerging Designer Award at Saskatchewan Fashion Week. In 2015, Prahsik graced the runways of RAW in Vancouver, and Saskatchewan Fashion Week in Regina. The Saskatoon Fashion & Design Festival is excited to announce Prahsik in the designer lineup for 2015.  To view their entire Spring/Summer line come and enjoy the sunshine down at River Landing the afternoon of June 7th.

Read below for a conversation with the Prahsik designer, Janis Procyk.

Why did you decide to become a fashion designer?

Well, I didn't really make a decision to become a fashion designer. I am very inspired by entrepreneurship and this has been subconsciously driving a lot of my career decisions. I went to the University of Lethbridge and graduated with a Bachelor of Management Degree and even though this was very beneficial for my career, I felt as though a piece of the puzzle was still missing. I knew that I wanted to own a business, but I didn't know what that business would look like. I always was fascinated by clothing and I would design dresses when I was younger, and even tried my hand at sewing, but I never thought of it as being a career choice. 

After working a few years at a variety of jobs, and getting a pretty shocking wake up call, I really started to realize that life is short and that I needed to take a chance on something and see where it takes me. I guess this is where I started to decide to become a fashion designer, when I enrolled in design school, but at that point I was still kind of unclear as to what I wanted to do with that education.  After finishing my diploma, something just clicked--I finally felt as though I found something that could challenge me, but yet was still really enjoyable. It sounds cliche, but everything just kind of fell into place--I didn't really make the decision, I just finally found something that I really loved to do. 

What is your favorite part about being a fashion designer?

My favourite (and sometimes least favourite) part about being a fashion designer is the constant change and challenge that you are up against. Even though it is challenging to try and balance creating a form of art while trying to still trying to make your clothing marketable, and even though there are a ton of intricate patterns, late nights of working, little free time, constant change in fabrics and designs, having to outdo yourself from collection to collection, and lots of stress and tears, it is somehow still worth it. I think the best challenge (especially for me) is that from collection to collection I am constantly pushing myself to improve what I am doing. Even though you are changing everything from collection to collection and you feel stressed, you can constantly improve--if you don't like something you did last season, you aren't stuck with it for the rest of your life--you can learn from it, change it, and move on.  The amount I have learned has been incredible. Even though most of my learning has been surrounding what not to do, they are still valuable lessons that will help me in all aspects of my life. The industry itself is very competitive, but I don't feel intimidated by this competition--I can still admire someone else's ideas and workmanship, and appreciate the hard work they are putting in without feeling as though I have to be better. It is truly an industry where you can be successful by being you--staying true to yourself, your designs, and what you do best seems to be what has been working--especially for me.

What was the first item you ever sewed?

I don't know that I really remember to be honest. I sewed some doll blankets with my grandma when I was little, I tried making a pair of pajama pants from a pattern once, but the one thing I really remember sewing was a dress I made when I was about 13 that I wore to a grad. I picked the thinnest and worst fabric possible and didn't really have a plan going into it. I had a pattern, but I didn't really like the style of the design, so I kind of just put it together my own way. By the time I was done, it looked completely different from the pattern, but it worked and I was proud. Looking back now, it really is remarkable that I could just fly by the seat of my pants and make something fitted with no plan at all--from what I have heard, this is a difficult thing to do, but somehow it just made sense to me. It truly is something that I am good at (which I usually would never admit to), but didn't really realize it at all when I was younger, I am just really starting to figure it out now. 

Who is your favorite fashion designer, why?

Well, my favourite fashion designer is Sarah Burton, but my favourite fashion house/label would be Alexander McQueen (they go together, so I can choose both). It is funny that it is my favourite, because most of the clothing from the label is something that I would never think of and never wear, but I am just so in awe of the workmanship and the artistic side of the designs. 

What are your inspirations around your designs?

This changes from season to season. Ideas and inspirations can sometimes really come out of thin air. My past few collections were inspired by a feeling, mythical creatures, decorations, a time of year, and a variety of other things. Even though the inspiration is constantly changing, I try to maintain the same type of tailoring in style from season to season to make up a balance in my label. 

Where do you source your materials and fabrics?

I have learned sourcing materials and fabric the hard way, but now I am figuring it out. Most of my material and fabrics now come from Telio. I can choose quality fabrics from there and there is a lot more variety of choices that you don't see everywhere else. 

What are you most excited about during the Saskatoon Fashion & Design Festival?

I am excited to do my first show in Saskatoon! I haven't been up there yet and I am really looking forward to meeting people, and seeing what the buzz is about! 

What are your plans for the future?

Right now I am working a full time job plus running my label out of my house. Sometime in the future I would really love to make fashion design my full time job. Right now that is my goal, it is simple, but specific. 

What are 3 words you would use to describe your designs?

Confident, Tailored, and Bold

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