You know that feeling of knowing a person before meeting said person?
What I knew of Dijana was very little and consisted of the booklet on my seat and the 15 minutes of the runway show at the Bass Museum. I generally trust my guts and let them work for me when they want to, and, as it turned out, my impressions were not far off.
Dijana swim celebrates “symmetry, purity, sensuality, renewal and beauty” it said on the booklet, enough to peak my curiosity. The right amount of fashion poetry and I wanted to read more, while seating among the A-listers waiting for the show to commence.
Dijana expresses love and gratitude to everyone who helped with this journey, 118 to be exact and that includes Wuppi, her beloved dog.
The recurring symbols throughout the collections are the lotus flower, the bamboo and the triangle.
The first representing the rebirth from the mud, is a tribute to a friend who passed away recently.
The bamboo is the predominant print which represents the balance between flexibility and resiliency against adversity.
The downward triangle is the ultimate representation of femininity.
Wasn’t that enough to wanting to meet with her?
Our conversation went from drones to generosity, from Nespresso to compassion, from puppy love to entrepreneurial hurdles, from Goldie Hawn to sustainability, and, how much our patience and compassion get put under test by people with no manners.
Dijana is an all-encompassed business woman who started her new adventure from scratch, that is: coming from an artistic background, having no previous experience in fashion but a clear intuition of what she wanted.
Sheer determination and a great dose of humbleness characterize her personality and her approach to everything, from friends to business.
“I need to understand”
“I need to understand” is a way of approaching life that brought her to put together a flawless collection in a few months. And you have got to believe me in this: the samples are impeccable, they went through the rough waters of a runway and three days of exhibiting at the Cabana show. They have been touched, worn, taken inside out, tested, washed and yet, not one thread out of place.
She wakes up as early as 6 am and is at the mill all day, something unusual and out of the ordinary in Miami.
DM - “You have to understand that nobody has ever been allowed in as consistently as me, but everybody, from the owner to the seamstresses and the drivers, has been so compassionate and understanding that we almost became an extended family."
Same with Roberto, the grumpy and intimidating big guy of the only place in town that makes strings (you know those strings that tie your bikini top or bottom) when he seemed not to be leaning towards her idea of a thinner string without internal elastic. You know that annoying feeling of having the marks on your skin from your bathing suit when you lay on the chaise longue?
Well ain’t gonna happen with her bikinis, Roberto caved in, went the extra mile to accommodate her requests and agreed to produce the most subtle and imperceptible string that ties her bikinis.
Because she is like this: she works hard, as hard as anyone else that she surrounded herself with and doesn’t get no as an answer, not capriciously though, but with an intent and the sweetest disarming smile.
Putting up the Ritz in a few months with so many telling her she was crazy, faced her with the ‘impossible’ word one too many times that the Leo in her took over and, voila’, she made it happen.
However, not all roses come without thorns and challenges became the inception of a dream come true.
“I love to be put in the dark spot”
“I love to be put in the dark spot, to have that grey day, because all that comes out of it is a success, a solution, like a rebirth into a better me.”
Like when, this past December, she couldn’t find the fabric she wanted and was originally directed to look into the wrong direction by whom had diverging interests from what were her requests. It took her the spur of the moment determination and one full Sunday of emailing from her office in Miami Beach, to find the mill she is currently working with.
How did you know that it was that the one?
DM – They were the first one to promptly send samples, within that same week.
Was it what you wanted?
DM - Exactly it, 5000 miles away they got it.
The exclusive bamboo print with her signature had more or less the same trajectory: found the best of the best, adapted to her vision and produced. A common path, passion and workmanship are a commitment for life wherever you are.
Her seamstresses were sitting first row at the show, not exactly a publicist's dream in a restricted seated environment, but she didn't want them standing, because if she made it there it’s thanks to all who have passionately contributed.
And it proved her right, who, if not them, would be proud of every piece that went down the catwalk?
She believes in the energy and its power infused in every hour spent sawing a piece. Every seam is impregnated with the feelings of the seamstress, it reminded me of “Like water for chocolate” while she touched one long billowy dress and remembered when Margarita was making it. See? That’s what Dijana stands. As a responsible fashion entrepreneur, she has a strong opinion on sustainability, hence the use of polyester, a synthetic fabric yet the one with the least environmental impact. It was in a blink of an eye that she mentioned the movie “The True Cost” produced to document the environmental and human cost of fast-fashion and the reproachable consequences on economy.
Her friends tell her “you need a vacation”.
“Not now, I can’t, I’d feel like abandoning my creation after having worked so hard.”
When they say if you do what you are passionate about, it won’t feel like work.