Infectious flight uniform. Virulent is conquering the fashion scene with sweatpants that the whole of Prague wants
The biggest fashion event of this year may not have taken place on the catwalks of fashion weeks, but behind the doors of the front rooms, where we hid from the pandemic world. At that time, beginning designer Otakar Šenkýř founded a brand that became an addiction for the Czech fashion scene.
Virulent, as he called his brand, is the essence of pandemic clothing: comfortable tracksuits so beautiful that you won’t be ashamed of them even for Sunday lunch.
The very name Virulent can be loosely translated as contagious, in a good way. “Virulent came into being at a time when the whole world had stopped and no one was dealing with anything but covid. This is where the idea of the whole brand and its name come from, ”says Šenkýř.
“We can translate it from slang English as contagious, and that seemed ingenious to me in relation to fashion and the current situation in the world. I wanted to create clothes that people would not want to take off, “describes the graduate of the Institute of Fashion Design, the brand concept. The brand identity is complemented by the slogan “my fashion contagion”, translated as my fashion contagion.
It’s a really contagious fashion. Already after the first modest contribution to Otakar’s private profile, an avalanche of orders broke out, just in the first month since its launch, Virulent sold two hundred sets. “I went to the first two pieces alone with my seamstress, at night and in the cellar, which I hurriedly got to have so many orders to send from,” the young designer said at the hectic beginnings.
“I was even contacted by some celebrities themselves and helped me to make the brand known,” he adds. The minimalist set was worn by Tomáš Třeštík or Emma Smetana. Today, you can hardly walk through the most stylish part of Prague without at least seeing a fashionable piece from Virulent.
Everyone suddenly wants a tracksuit. And not just any kind. One that is based on the needs of the time and is made in the Czech Republic. Just Virulent.
In this one word lies everything we expect from pandemic and post-pandemic fashion: safety, comfort, the softness of luxury, and something more – the feeling that we are taken care of. Like cotton. And literally – comfortable sets are sewn by a designer made of natural cotton.
In addition, each product is hand-ironed, tied with a ribbon and wrapped to measure for each customer. “My goal was to create a brand with added value, to infect the customer not only with fashion, but also with emotions. That’s why everyone can choose the scent and emotion with which the package will come, “describes the founder of Virulent, his original idea. “I think all these details play a significant role,” he adds.
The package from Virulent is therefore filled to the brim with charming elegance, so reserve the whole evening to unpack it. It is a celebration of comfort, a ceremony that pays tribute to what is still good – honest Czech craftsmanship.
In addition, according to the designer, the set itself is a uniform for a sleepy Sunday morning and the days on which you want to conquer the world. “I wanted to store comfortable clothes in which people will feel comfortable and at the same time sexy and stylish. Even thanks to the pandemic, we no longer wear sweatpants just when we go jogging, but as a normal outfit. And this was my first thought: a tracksuit in which a woman is resting on the couch, and then she just takes her heels or a coat and goes to a meeting in it, “says Otakar Šenkýř.
“I don’t want to place an order with a giant factory that would fill me with a thousand pieces overnight. I feel that people appreciate the craft, “he answers Otakar when asked if large-scale production is planned due to the huge interest.
The young designer plays not only his studies at the Klára Haunerová Institute of Fashion Design, but also his previous experience with graphics, photography, or running an e-shop. “In addition, I have a lot of great, smart people around me who are number one in their field and who have always come to help me,” says the designer.
“Now Virulent will have his first Christmas and I have no idea what to expect from them. Maybe I’m ready. We will find out yet, ”laughs the designer, who will buy more and more orders with the arrival of winter.