Draga Obradovic was born in Serbia but after studying painting in Florence, has made Italy her home. Initially she started working as a model, then turned to fashion design before applying her painting techniques to materials and focussing on textile design. Between 1989 and 2005 she worked for many design studios across Europe. In 2006 she applied her textiles to furniture and has been merging the two mediums ever since. She continues to be based in Florence, and works with her partner Aurel Basedow. Draga's pieces and textile designs are stocked in Anthropologie.
Which five words best describe you? Dynamic, determined, ironic, intuitive, impatient.
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? I worked as a textile designer for many years but always wanted to create my own collection. I have then refined my painting technique directly onto fabrics in which colour, style and textiles meet, leading itself to a furniture collection, mostly one-of-kind pieces.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? Mistakes are our inner deep purposes.
What's your proudest career achievement? I'm mostly proud of the fact that the passion I put into my work can reach so many people far away.
What’s been your best decision? That I have left the known for the unknown.
Who inspires you? I made a chair bearing the names of people who have influenced and inspired me. There is a thin red line that separates the two, you are the product of the first, perhaps without even knowing it, and it's why the latter you choose. Tito, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Pushkin. Also, the Dada movement, abstract american expressionism, cinema, design from the thirties to the sixties, Mark Rothko for his colours, Alighiero Boetti for his playing with coincidences, rock from '70s for the mix of music and contents, Oscar Wilde for his irony.
What are you passionate about? Art in all expressions, dining with friends, wondering about flee markets, destroying my husband's cars, and riding like hell with my Honda up in the Swiss Alps.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? At least one of my past incarnations.
What dream do you still want to fulfil? To live long enough for clubbing with my grandchildren.
What are you reading? The corrections by Jonathan Franzen
images courtesy of draga obradovic
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