Photo: Kollar Clothing

Slovakian-born and Canadian-raised designer David Kollar may have a passion for casual style, but his low key layers and wardrobe staples are created with attention to detail. Kollar recently presented his Spring/Summer 2017 collection at Toronto Men’s Fashion Week, where neutral silhouettes stole the show. His passion for graphic prints, along with a flair for streetwear and gender neutral dressing, have all become trademarks of the Kollar aesthetic.

Real Style spoke to the young Toronto-based design talent about his eponymous label Kollar Clothing, along with his fashion journey from a sartorially challenged teen to a modern day gentleman. Here’s what he had to share:

Real Style: What was the inspiration behind your latest collection?

David: For the collection, I was really obsessed with layers. I felt that a lot of guys have problems and are not sure what to layer with. For me, the inspiration was having everything built in one, and they just put it on. It’s one layer, and it just drapes nicely on the body. I was going for a really earthy vibe. I was inspired by darker tones. The collection has a lot of tan and a lot of olive.

Real Style: How do you think your menswear aesthetic can be translated into womenswear?

David: A lot of girls buy an extra small. If you wear skinny jeans and put one of our nice T-shirts on and roll it up, you can really rock it. I have a lot of female customers, actually. I do little details, so the shoulder may drop a little lower than it’s supposed to be. I get inspired by women’s clothing a lot, actually, because I see a lot of women’s clothing with a dropped shoulder.

Real Style: Tell us what first got you interested in pursuing fashion.

David: It’s actually funny, because I was young. In middle school, I couldn’t dress. I would wear socks and sandals, and I was really bad at dressing! I would wear a hoodie with no T-shirt. When I got to grade nine or ten, I got really interested in my image. I cared about what I was wearing, and my mom was buying everything for me. I was kind of not sure what to wear, so I started seeing things that I liked. I was [doing] graphic design, so I started doing T-shirt prints. That led to me being bored of that, so that’s how Kollar was created.

Real Style: There’s definitely a link between graphic design and fashion. How does this work, in terms of your design?

David: It’s funny because a lot of the graphic stuff that happens, I still do. I want full control of my vision, the clothing and the graphics. I try to delegate now though, because before I used to try to do everything.

Real Style: What upcoming creative initiatives can we expect from you?

David: We’re actually coming out with shoes soon, so that should be cool. Footwear is coming out, and watches too. I feel like a lot of the time when I have a fashion show, I would be calling stores about watches or shoes. It still didn’t fit my style. The reason I started my clothing is because I couldn’t fit anything that I wanted.

Real Style: What are your fashion essentials for fall?

David: I love black in fall. I love long scoop tees layered with oversized shirts, and jeans that are fitted and stacked nicely at the bottom. Then, a nice big coat to go with it.