Oktober Studio
About
Uroš Belantič studied fashion design at the Hochschule fuer angewandte Kunst in Vienna. In 1996 he took part in a working excursion to the Vivienne Westwood studio, London, and from 1996–1998 he was trained by Professor Jean Charles de Castelbajac in Vienna. In the 1990s he was Fashion Editor at Slovene Ars Vivendi Magazine, and before founding his own studio he designed collections for Vodeb Fashion House from 1997 to 1999.
Fashion shows and awards
Belantič's collections have been presented at several fashion shows (Fashion Week in Vienna, International Fashion Festival in Sarajevo) and have received several awards. In 1995 he was a finalist in the Smirnoff International Fashion Awards Competition, in 2003 he received the Trend Award for special achievements in the field of fashion design in Slovenia, and in 2005 he was presented with the Manda Award for best foreign designer at the Zagreb Fashion Week.
Collections
Studio Oktober's autumn-winter collection was sold in fifteen cities around the world in 2005. When Fayçal Amor, owner of the French luxury brand Plein Sud, saw the creations, he invited Belantič to Paris, where Belantič stayed for a decade.
In 2017, Belantič re-embarked on his own journey with model Valerija Kelava. Together, they started the niche brand Just a Corpse, designed especially for dancers, and revealed it at the invitation of the Centre for Creativity in Ljubljana. With dance being their mutual inspiration, they embarked on an independent sustainable project where they connected with a family run manufacture from their home town of Ljubljana, with over 30 years of experience in producing personalised garments of impeccable quality for top athletes. They source their fabrics regionally from top of the range Northern Italian manufacturers, and try to cooperate with local professionals as a way of giving back to the community.
Costumography
Uroš Belantič has created the costumes for several dance performances by Betontanc and the En-Knap Dance Group, and has also created costumes for a few short films (e.g. Time Timers by Dan Oki, 2001) TV serials, and a movie Veronika in Friderik, directed by Klemen Dvornik.