Barbora Kotěšovcová graduated with a master's degree from the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio at UMPRUM. In her work she has long focused on form, construction and draping as her main means of expression. She perceives clothing as a space for storytelling developing silhouettes between functionality and sometimes even performative gestures.

In addition to her own creative work, she also teaches and is involved in construction practice. In her work she often incorporates ornamentation, mythology and the creation of her own characters. She is currently focusing on developing her personal visual style. 

THE AFTERPOSE is Barbora Kotěšovcová’s debut ready-to-wear collection. Her victory in the Mattoni Fashion Young Stars 2026 competition provided the opportunity to launch it. The designer invites viewers into a world inspired by the aesthetics of the internet horror phenomenon *The Backrooms*. She gradually reveals beings bearing traces of characters from empty offices, abandoned hallways, school desks, and other familiar places. Spaces that are normally filled with people, movement, voices, and the hustle and bustle of everyday life suddenly become empty. Distorted silhouettes, shifted structures, and elongated lines transform the former bodies, movements, and gestures of these beings into new, slightly unsettling forms.

The garments and accessories are made primarily from deadstock textile materials. The collection’s styling is complemented by four original headpieces by the design duo,

TWIN–CHERRY and recycled fragments of eyewear created in collaboration with artist Veronika Kotěšovcová. Photographer Matyáš Matlach, stylist Tomáš Máčik, and interns Svitlana Hubal, Ekaterina Gracheva, and Josefína Brychtová also contributed to the visual presentation of the collection.