Varvara Zhemchuzhnikova

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Individual orders of unique fashion items and designs — hand-dyed, stitched, and embroidered outfits — alongside community design and sewing classes, alterations, costume design, and sustainability-awareness and art-collaboration events.

Finland · Canada

A sustained studio practice across three bodies of work: Painting Waste — textile paintings from upcycled fashion waste (2017–); Social Ryijy — textile storytelling & community building (2013–); and 3D Textile Experiments (2020–).

Finland · Canada

Curating solo and group art shows on themes of sustainability, textile waste in the fashion industry, and the impact of war on people and the environment — concept development, planning, coordination and communication with vendors, artists and venues, websites, invitations, installation and de-install, feedback, workflow improvement, invoicing, and logistics.

Canada (hybrid) · USA (remote)

Two-person software-services studio, hiring and collaborating per project needs. Worked across roles and learned on the go: analysing company needs, goals and workflows; stakeholder communication; building workflows to improve performance; project coordination and documentation; client interviews; concept/product development; design and UI/UX; front-end and back-end development; deployment; technical support; and training new hires.

• —Panoptyc (2022–2023, USA) — full-time software developer, tech support, project management
• —NAT Pietra (2021–2022, Italy) — web-based real-time pattern-editing tool: client discovery, Figma UX/UI, development & deployment coordination
• —Facet (2021, USA) — AI photo-editing startup: web developer, homepage upgrade
• —Contra (2021, USA) — freelance portfolio platform: product-development consultant, prototype tester, engineer ambassador, writer
• —ORC-A (2020, Canada) & Stage (2020, USA) — brand launch page; 3D-rendering app product consulting

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Advanced Concept, Engineering Knits & Jacquards (2019): Senseknit and new-line product development with European manufacturers — experimental prototyping, 3D prototyping to reduce sampling waste, trim and construction innovation, user and product research, and workflow streamlining; contributed to early sustainability initiatives. Children’s line, ivivva (2018): concept, design, and product development adapting mainline styles.

Russia · Finland · Canada

Across the apparel lifecycle — from industrial sewing-machine operator at a large manufacturer to production-line coordination, pattern-making, concept development and design — working across cultures, remote and in person, inventing new processes and improving existing workflows. Selected projects:

• —ORC-A (2023–2025, Canada) — zero-waste surf parkas based on Indigenous Suomi designs; accessories from discarded sails
• —AALTO PatternLAB Textile Design Studio (2013–2014, Finland) — Pattern Designer & Vice-CEO: concepts, prints, jacquards
• —Studio 62/38 (2010–2011, Russia) — Co-founder & Designer: women’s and gender-neutral line, zero-waste patterns from traditional Slavic designs
• —Russian State Circus Company (2009–2011) & Nikulin’s Russian Circus (2008) — Costume Designer across large-scale shows
• —National Japan Project / JKB (2007, remote) — one-piece zero-waste “Engineered Knits” collection

Invited Artist Grant, AALTO Learning Centre (May 2017)

Social Fabric of Migration · Espoo, Finland

Best Project

Personal Project Conference · Helsinki, Finland

1st place (International)

Young?Creative?Chevrolet! Fashion Competition · Moscow, Russia

2nd place

5th International Graduate Fashion Week — Sketch Competition · Moscow, Russia

1st place

Step in the Future — XIII International Conference of Young Researchers · Moscow, Russia

Grand-Prix

4th International Graduate Fashion Week — Student Fashion Design · Moscow, Russia

Young Debutant

The Velvet Seasons in Sochi — International Festival of Fashion · Sochi, Russia

Rissanen, T. & McQuillan, H. (2023). Zero Waste Fashion Design (2nd ed., p. 81). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Wilson, M. R. (2018). Vancouver Sustainable Fashion Designers — Painting Waste by Varvara Kronberg-Zhemchuzhnikova. Olio by Marilyn, May 22, 2018.

Zhemchuzhnikova, V. (2017). Ready-to-Paint: Co-Creation with Little Artists. The Fashion Studies Journal (Issue 4).

Zhemchuzhnikova, V. (2017). Ready-to-Paint: Co-Creation with Little Artists in Fashion Practice. AaltoDoc.

Rissanen, T. & McQuillan, H. (2016). Zero Waste Fashion Design (1st ed., p. 89). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Aakko, M. & Niinimäki, K. (2014). Experimenting with Zero-Waste Fashion. In K. Niinimäki (Ed.), Sustainable Fashion: New Approaches (pp. 68–79). Aalto ARTS Books.

Niinimäki, K. (2013). Renaissance of Appreciating Material: A Case Study in Zero-Waste Fashion. Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice (Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 77–92).

British Columbia, Canada

Community engagement and social, art and educational events on sustainability, arts, tech and design — planning, coordination, invitations, branding, documentation, and liaison with the Finland head office; “Radical Creatives” documentary screenings and course recruitment.

Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Textile workshops for children on storytelling, sustainability and connection; developed the programming for the school’s first Arts Week — bringing in independent artists, event and team coordination, and establishing collaboration workflows.

MA, Fashion and Clothing Design

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture · Helsinki, Finland

BA & MA, Clothing Design (Applied Arts)

Kosygin Moscow State Textile University · Moscow, Russia

Art Therapy Course

International School Osnova (online)

Radical Creativity Course

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (online)

Digital Project Management · JavaScript · CSS · Creative Coding

SuperHi (online)

React · Next.js · TypeScript · Angular · C#

Pluralsight (online)

CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

Harvard University (online)

Practice-Based Research in the Arts · Sustainable Product Development

Stanford University (online)