From Hobby to Haute Couture – The Journey of Handcraft in Fashion
Asia Sztencel will be moderating a panel on the work of Polish artisan/ designer Maggie Koluch. This panel explores the evolution of handcraft—particularly crochet—from childhood passion to runway-worthy innovation. It traces a personal and professional journey that began with a newspaper ad and led to collaborations with top designers and features in major fashion publications. They will be joined by knitwear designer Kim Haller. The conversation will be accompanied by a visual essay detailing Maggie’s career.
Please RSVP as space is limited!
Maggie Koluch is a Polish artisan/designer based in New York. Crochet, knitting, and handcraft are skills she developed long before she applied them professionally.
Today, Maggie collaborates with designers across New York’s fashion industry. Her work reflects a long-standing interest in handcraft, shaped by knowledge passed down through generations and refined through years of experience. Maggie’s work has appeared not only on fashion runways, but also in the pages of prestigious fashion magazines and on American television stations. Maggie emphasizes that while hard work and talent are, of course, important in any passion, the person who passes on the knowledge also plays a huge role. She learned to handcraft from her mother.
Asia Sztencel is a New York-based painter and social practice artist, and a 2023 awardee of the Brooklyn Public Library Heritage Ambassador Program. Her work explores migration, memory, and belonging through painting, participatory processes, and visual research.
Working at the intersection of painting and social practice, her work draws on conceptual strategies and traditional craft to reflect on the immigrant experience, using landscape as a language for exile, recall, and longing. Selected artist residencies include Residency Unlimited (Brooklyn), Artist Alliance, Inc. (Brooklyn), and 18th Street Arts Center (Santa Monica). In 2023 and 2025, she was an awardee of SU-CASA, Brooklyn Arts Council.
Kim Haller is a knitwear designer and creative director with over three decades of experience in luxury and contemporary fashion. She has led knitwear collections for brands including Gabriela Hearst, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Derek Lam, Jason Wu, and Carolina Herrera. Her expertise includes concept development and production, with a focus on textile innovation, fit, and craftsmanship.
