FASHION
The Financial Auditor Turned Into W!LDCH!LD
A Conversation With Julia Kurzawa On Her Journey To Design Success
BY VANESA KRIZONYTE
The most awakening question life can throw is what would you do if you weren’t afraid? Julia Kurzawa, designer of label W!LDCH!LD, is transforming wardrobes where women are empowered to wear unapologetically loud statement garments regardless of the occasion. Often, corporate women lose their femininity within the office but this brand celebrates female confidence. Coming from a financial background, Kurzawa has filled the market gap in luxury leather garments by using natural fabrics to offer versatile, lifelong pieces. W!LDCH!LD is worn in the New York streets, at gallery openings, and in offices. To wear these designs, a woman is seen from a new and unexpected perspective.
Introduce Yourself:
My name is Julia Kurzawa. I’m originally from Germany, and moved to New York twelve years ago. Nobody really knows I was in a completely different industry and moved for a job as financial auditor.
I’ve always been very inclined to art. Growing up in Cologne, I used to go to art shows and museums. In New York, I continued visiting gallery openings and people would say, “You must be in fashion the way you dress.”
I remember my first winter in New York, it was extremely cold, and I had to walk three blocks from my apartment to the subway. Everybody who has lived in New York City knows that winters there make you want to buy a fur coat, because you need it. I couldn’t find anything. I tried so many fur coats, and felt like I looked like my grandmother, but in a bad way. I thought, why does nobody make fur coats fun, a little more form-fitting, colourful, and exciting?
It wasn’t till covid-19 that I revisited the idea and decided to leave the finance world to do something creative – that’s where I started W!LDCH!LD.
This work ethic is a rare encounter. Most of the time, designers either have a mathematical or creative mindset. With Julia Kurzawa, it feels like both sides of the mind are present.
Are there particular design elements that hint at New York and Germany?
I heard before that my collection reminds people of Berlin.
I always like the texture of good quality fabrics and drive towards nature’s fabric, which lasts so long and changes with time. I play around with it and give it even more texture by embossing.
Then it’s about New York self-expression. I started combining it with fur, zipper details, and different textural fabrics.
How did you acquire all the knowledge on fabrics?
My mum took me shopping when I was very little, and she made me touch everything to feel the quality. So it is ingrained within.
When I first moved to New York, I was dressing very conservatively. I was wearing a long pantsuit, which is very European. A woman in New York would never wear a long suit. Needless to say I changed my entire wardrobe piece after piece. At one point I bought a piece made from fake leather, only to realize it was essentially plastic. That made me curious about how these materials are produced. Once I started going down the rabbit hole on the issue of plastic pollution in the fashion industry and tried to buy plastic free, I noticed how difficult it is to find natural fabrics. Essentially everything had polyester in it. Even when it came to something as simple as a 100% silk blouse, it was either impossible to find or priced extremely high. That’s when it became clear that there was a gap in the market.
I can see a projection of a woman who is very powerful and wanted to explore a few quotes from you,“What would you do if you weren’t afraid,” and “The W!LDCH!LD woman doesn’t wait to be seen and decides to be seen.”
It’s about quiet confidence. A W!LDCH!LD woman goes out with confidence, and she receives a lot of compliments, but it is not important to her.
I love getting customer feedback, especially our fur coats get so much attention. They say, ‘Omg Julia, I was out the other night wearing the coat and got three compliments, and everyone asked about it.’
We call it the “W!LDCH!LD effect.”
You say what would you do if you weren’t afraid – is this to encourage W!LDCH!LD consumerism?
It’s more general. We ask questions to make people think. Everybody seems to be fitted into a mould, attitude, expectations, and thinking that you need to do something. We are often afraid to do what we want because we are trying to do what is expected of us. And that question makes people think about what I would do if we weren’t afraid, and why I don’t. It’s to make you pause. If nothing else mattered – what would you do?
This is powerful coming from a woman in finance as there are probably a lot of women in London who want to be W!LDCH!LD but are afraid.
Now that we meet in-person, I see the portrait embossment on the gift bags is of you.
Yes, it’s a portrait an artist made of me several years ago. For the brand, I wanted to do something unique, and what’s more unique than your eyes?
Do you recall encountering your designs on Lady Gaga?
I was in Istanbul and received the message from our LA showroom that it was featured at her closing show in Barcelona. It was an amazing moment as it was the last song.
Are there any collaborations you wish to explore in the future?
We have nice things in the making.
There have been a lot of press requests for celebrity dressing, but I want to make sure the brand remains wearable every day. With the “office edit” on our website, we show how you can style our items so you can even wear them to the office with a blouse.
One of my dream collaborations would be with a former Bond girl, a real Icon: Grace Jones. I have this vision of her wearing W!LDCH!LD and would love her to be connected to the brand at some point.
Is there a favourite creation?
We recently came out with an ostrich embossed jacket and skirt set. You can style it up and down. It’s very versatile. It’s very popular in Hollywood.
Additional commentary…
The collection is very functional. With our Panther long fur coat, you can take the sleeves off and wear it as a long vest or zip it in five different ways. You can wear it even if it isn’t super cold. I wore this fur coat to an art gallery in Miami when it was eighteen degrees.
The new jackets have zippers on the shoulders so you can remove the sleeves. You have the flexibility for two outfits in one.
And it will be suitable for the office.
The financial background is never far from Julia’s designs, with all the calculated details giving birth to the quality, uniqueness, and individuality of W!LDCH!LD.
Interview for this story was conducted on 11th February, 2026. With gratitude to Julia Kurzawa.
Links:
Instagram: Wildchild.nyc
