Statement, Heart and Innovation: An Interview with Mariia Opal
- Faramade Olaitan
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
Mariia Opal: "Have fun and just let yourself be imperfect."
Mariia Opal is a Ukrainian artist based in London. “I moved to London when I was only about 17 with big dreams and goals, and currently I'm working on them. The main word I could use to describe my art is statement.”
Opal says “there are a lot of things that inspire me, but music is probably one of the biggest ones. Every bag I've made has had its own playlist or mood that kind of helped me shape it. I also take a lot of inspiration from nature, its colours, movement, and emotions. Each season could bring something different.”
Speaking on her creative process the artist says “I always have music on in the background. Once I'm in the right mindset, I can lose track of time for hours. I am also someone who gets very excited about bringing ideas to life. So, once I have a concept, I can't wait to start making it.
“University taught me the importance of testing and refining ideas, but my natural instinct is always to build the prototype as fast as possible and move forward with everything else.”
The artist says when coming up with new designs “I always try to listen to my heart. Most of my designs come as a spark, it could be very random. Most of the time it’s not expected. I could be on the tube, I could be doing something absolutely not related to design and it just sparks and I have an urge to draw it down.”
Opal says she was always interested in design from a young age “I would say my main inspiration was my mum, because she always used to make all of my costumes and leotards for gymnastics when I was younger. Seeing her making all of it inspired me in a way.”
She says she first became interested in bag making in “my foundation year. We had a short project about bags and ever since I fell in love. Then I also got an offer from my university for bags and accessories, even though I applied initially for womenswear. But I am really happy that it happened this way and not the other.”
Opal says what initially drew her to the art form is “probably because it was new’, there was nothing else like it before and I kind of wanted to capture moments in time. That’s what the ‘Picnic’ collection was inspired by, making moments feel ethereal and I felt like moving detailing would fully immerse into a feeling of a memory.”
She says how she deals with setbacks in her work is “to just keep going. I know it is hard, for me it happens all the time. Even with this project, it took a lot of my energy, and I am beyond grateful that I kept going even though there were many obstacles.”
The designer says of her own pieces “all of them are my favourite in a way because they’re all different, all of them have a different story. But for now, I would say my most ambitious and my favourite one is The Bloom bag with moving flowers.”
Commenting on the positive audience reception to her ‘Picnic’ designs she says “It was an amazing feeling. I think for every creative person, it is very precious to get positive feedback on something they're really passionate about. The ‘Picnic’ project was probably my hardest work yet, for my personal reasons and the technical side as well and seeing it all paid off in the end in the most positive way is truly amazing.”
Opal’s advice to anyone newly interested in bag making is “definitely to learn the basics first and to not be afraid of challenges because there are a lot of them. You just need to try to find something that will keep your attention. Have fun and just let yourself be imperfect.
"That's the other very important thing to let yourself be imperfect, because you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't let others see it because there are some details that are not 100% perfect as the way you imagined it in your head, how is anyone going to know it, that you're really talented?”
Opal says there will soon be an “exciting update about the most desirable bags, which are from the ‘Picnic' collection, they are soon to be made, and also more designs are coming soon.”
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