My name is Jana Zaharijević, and I am a Belgrade based costume designer. 

I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, in the sculpture and performance class, where I also worked as a student assistant for professor Jelena Petrović. Previously, I studied textile and costume design at Belgrade Design high school. 

Since 2011, I have been working as a lead costume designer and assistant on various commercials, films, music videos and TV series. In my work, I aim to produce the costumes by hand, whenever the project allows. I have built a great team, as well as developed a network of professional and reliable partners—including seamstresses, embroidery makers, large-scale sewing workshops, printing shops and shoemakers. My main interest is contemporary costume and the extreme precision it calls for in order to tell a story. Since the depicted time is the one spectators are familiar with, I find that I have to be particularly accurate when building a character, which is my never ending inspiration. Additionally, I enjoy creating otherworldly costumes that step out of known trends and subcultures and delve into the realm of fiction and fashion design.

Being conscious of the negative impact the fashion industry has on the planet, I try to conduct my work as ecologically aware as possible. Apart from producing locally, I also rent costumes and buy second-hand garments, which I then remake and reuse.