To call Nick Waraksa a fashion designer would certainly be accurate, although it would also be a hefty understatement. As a creative manipulator of various media -- music, motion graphics, photography and fashion -- he's an artist for whom all elements of life filter into one reoccurring design philosophy that is acutely summed up in the name of his clothing label, Wounded Line.

With a new collection of ornately decorated garments and accessories -- from comfy tees to custom couture, the Milwaukee-based designer is interested in capturing the dark beauty found in the imperfect and the broken and transforming it into a certain life passion through his fashion.

Oh, and he's also on a mission to redefine the hoodie.

"I'm obsessed with hoodies right now. I actually hate them but I like the frame it puts around the head," he says. "I want to dress up the hoodie, make it fancy and give it a new name. It's like putting a punk rocker in a fancy restaurant."

And it is from this uncommon juxtaposition of the dainty and the dangerous, the cruel with the coy, that he's created a series of organic works -- not just clothing, but also jewelry and film -- and he's planned a massive unveiling for Saturday, Nov. 25 at Martini Mike's. He collaborated with Milwaukee designer Shanel Regier in March's "Parisian Roots" couture show, but "Wounded Line: Launch of Thought," as he's calling it, is an evening of film and fashion all his own.

"This is a launch of ideas and philosophies behind the brand. Yes, this is clothing line, but more than that, it is also a collection of ideas that string from what it means to be 'wounded' -- to find strength and beauty in those wounds or vulnerabilities that people have. The clothing is something tangible that represents this and can be shared and worn within people's lives. When you believe in something and its sense of story, you want to be a part of it and take it with you."

It was out of this desire for something tangible in art -- he worked for years in motion graphics and was discouraged with having the bulk of his creative efforts sit on CD -- that he evolved, fluidly, into a clothier. Yet even now, with his finger on fashion's fast pulse, he works to a beat much his own -- one that is derived not by what is "in" for the season, but by the ways in which each season in and of itself inspires his style.

"I feel pretty connected to the environment around me, so whatever I am in-tune with or resonating with ends up being manifested into what I want to portray in my work. If I can portray the idea as strongly as I believe it, than others around me can more easily believe in my ideas as well -- then that becomes what is 'in.'"

And what he believes in -- "to be wounded by what's closest, and powered by the same," the mantra of his film and clothing -- forges a strong path to his design concepts. He says his work accepts itself as 'imperfect' and, therefore, has more of an interesting story to tell because of where it has allowed itself to go without a fear of this imperfection.

And unlike many artists who see the imperfection in Milwaukee as a resourceful city for art to flourish, Waraksa sees it much differently.

"There is something special that Milwaukee has which I think big cities might envy - intimacy, emerging and rapid growth, and accessibility. To be here at this moment in time provides an opportunity to influence its growth and be woven into the city's development before it swallows you whole like a larger city might."

Wounded Line is available at Aala Reed, 1320 E. Brady St.

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Posted by Lee on Nov. 28, 2006 at 12:04 p.m. (report)

Congrats Nick! Sorry we missed the premiere. I'm sure it was a great success!!