Even those not well-versed in fashion can easily name the capitals of fashion: Milan, Paris, and London. Can Moscow catch up with these global centers of high fashion? Russians love to dress elegantly, and fashion designers enjoy celebrity status here. In fact, fashion plays an important role in the lives of most affluent Russians. Does this mean that Russian design has a chance to make an impact on the world of fashion? Do Russian designers have a distinctive style all their own?
Inspiration from Russia
The October 1917 Revolution practically wiped out fashion in Russia. The Russian professionals who had fled abroad found themselves in dire straits there, and earned their livelihood with difficulty. Paris at the time had around 20 fashion houses opened by emigrants. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, cousin of Tsar Nikolai II, was a great exception: she owned an enterprise called Kitmir, which employed a hundred or so embroideresses. Kitmir's top customer was Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel, the pioneering French fashion designer of the day, who ordered wildly popular Russian-embroidered clothing.
That was just the beginning of the relationship between Coco Chanel and Russia. She was inspired by Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov to create the Russian Leather perfume, a prototype of the legendary Chanel No. 5 brand. Thanks to her relationship with Romanov, Chanel introduced wonderful new motifs, including embroidered dresses and shirts, fur fashions, and eccentric shoulder bags. To demonstrate her newly designed clothes, Coco Chanel, like other Parisian designers, invited beautiful Russian women as models. Previously, models only had to walk on the catwalk; now direct contact with clients required them to have a command of high-society etiquette.
Another Russian presence on the French fashion scene was the Irfe fashion house, opened in Paris by Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Irina Alexandrovna (the name of the fashion house is derived from the first two letters of their names - Irina and Felix). The fine clothes from Irfe were eagerly bought by American ladies, who thought it prestigious to get their clothing from the fashion house of a Russian prince. Today, it is not easy to find a dress designed by Yusupov: his fashion house went bust during the economic crisis of 1929 after 10 good years.
Others filled the void. Fashion house Paul Carre, founded by Princess Lobanova, specialized in making clothes for elderly and stout ladies, while the fashion house Ardance pursued an interesting fashion trend. Ardance belonged to Russian Baroness Cassandra Accourti, who simply adored the color lilac so for 30 years created a vast collection with this one hue.
Another great moment in Russian influence came with the Ballet Russes, the famous ballet company created by the great Russian impresario Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, who won Europe's heart. The Ballet Russes were essentially the quintessence of the finest in Russian art, created by the best dancers, choreographers, composers and artists of the time. Then stylish Paris fell under the influence of a new fashion trend, but unfortunately Russia was no longer the ‘in' thing. That new trend was a combination of the exotics of different countries and eras - decorated "Greek" tunics, wide "oriental" trousers, "Japanese" kimonos, etc. Harem odalisques from Dyagilev's stage productions made leather objects fashionable, a noticeable contrast to aristocratic rigidity. Meanwhile, the works of Lev Baks, who dealt with oriental motifs and flowers, had a strong influence on the great French couturier Paul Poiret.
Soviet Style
Meanwhile, the mighty Soviet Union was busy developing a clothing production industry, not a fashion industry. Yet there were certain elements of fashion in the clothing it produced, since it was subject to specific standards, like in any other country. Soviet fashion houses produced collections of clothing according to fashion trends approved by the all-Union conferences. Fashion magazines enjoyed great popularity, as they do today. Smart clothes were made in imitation of those worn by well-known personalities, such as Lyubov Orlova and Lyudmila Gurchenko.
Much later, a wave of "Soviet-style fashion" swept Russia in the early 2000s: Red stars twinkled in the collections of Olga Soldatova; "USSR" inscriptions appeared on T-shirts from Denis Simachev; Nina Neretina and Donis Pupis dedicated fashionable odes to Yury Gagarin. Those Soviet-style designers hit the bull's eye. Most members of their target audience were children in Soviet times, and these clothes inspired a sort of joyful nostalgia. We are not talking of Soviet symbolism: the "Soviet style" could also include T-shirts with images of female drinkers and soft mittens from Masha Tsigal.
Nina Neretina and Denis Simachev use the Soviet theme constantly. When creating their spring-summer collection, they drew inspiration from the images of Soviet athletes. But there is no direct reference to sports in their collections, which are dynamic and colorful like the fluttering flags of conquerors.
A Simachev collection of the same season reflected his holiday in the resort city of Sochi. His male models strolled on the catwalk wearing headgears made of newspaper while carrying string bags that contained a loaf of bread and a bottle of kefir. They were dressed accordingly, wearing striped vests and trousers that looked like tracksuit pants. This time the hero of the prints is the legendary Wolf in the animated Russian cartoon "Nu, pogodi!" ("I'll catch you!"). Not long ago, Simachev presented an intriguing collection of jewelry - rings, earrings, and pendants - in the form of Soviet-era five-kopek coins.
Another example: A collection of leather jackets and one-piece suits from Ilya Shiyan brings to mind many Soviet heroes - steeplejacks, subway builders, and test pilots.
Our People Everywhere
Clothing designed by Simachev enjoy a good amount of success in the West, as they embody a happy combination of tough Soviet symbolism, and an opportunity to comprehend the mysterious Russian soul. Yet this is not what really counts. What matters is that the clothes are of good quality and designed for real men; their style reflects neither excessive roughness nor some strange unisex look.
Simachev presented his summer and winter collections at Fashion Week in Milan. Russian fashion designers often display and sell their works at exhibitions in Europe and America; however, they still have a very long way to go to attain worldwide recognition.
Successful Russian designers are those Russian emigrants abroad who do not consider themselves natives of Russia. Nonetheless, we regard them proudly as our own; one such famous designer, for example, is Russian-American Oleg Cassini, son of Russian Count Alexander Loyevsky. Born in Paris, Cassini achieved celebrity status thanks to Hollywood, where he created costumes for cinema and dressed America's most beautiful women - from Ava Gardner and Marilyn Monroe to Kim Basinger and Renee Zellweger. Cassini was also the personal fashion designer of Jacqueline Kennedy. He enriched modern fashion with elements of the "military style," knitted apparel, and many other innovations.
Perhaps the most famous Russian in the international fashion business today is Alexander Plokhov. He emigrated to America and collaborated with Marc Jacobs. In 2000, Plokhov established his own brand - Cloak - which gained cult status among rock stars, actors and fashionable journalists. Of late, he has been working as a consultant for Versace.
Another popular Russian in the world of fashion is Oleg Ovsiyev, who has amassed vast experience in his work with foreign brands. For two years now, he has been designing for the famous fashion house Viva Vox. Yulia Dalakyan, who happened to work in the team of Roberto Cavalli, gained must-have experience in working abroad.
At one time, the duet of Seredina and Vasilyeva caught the attention of the West. Their collections, demonstrated at Paris fashion shows, won rave reviews from the press, the sympathy of viewers, and the approval of specialists. Fashion designers invited the duet as special guests to traditional haute couture shows.
No doubt, Russian fashion designers have supreme talent and potential. They learn quickly, although only a few years ago they made gross errors: For example, many green designers used fashion as an opportunity to put on a show, instead of arranging shows to promote fashion. They have now realized that fashion being a business, it is necessary to regularly create seasonal collections, develop a fashion series that their buyers expect, purchase sufficient amounts of fabrics and accessories, efficiently promote their brand on the market, and so forth.
The Russian fashion industry loves the magic word ‘show' and holds three Fashion Weeks in Moscow every season. Despite this fashion rage, many Russians prefer to buy foreign brands. Here Russians reveal their old Soviet habit of taking "imported" to mean "brand-name" and "of better quality." In other countries, the local inhabitants gladly buy clothes that are made by local fashion designers. They do so not only out of patriotism. In the first place, clothes made in a common cultural and climatic environment make you feel more comfortable in every sense of this word; secondly, locally made clothes are just plain cheaper.
Back to
the Basics
Even when they have learned the tricks of the trade, Russian designers will be able to step onto the world stage of fashion only if they have something exciting to show to the sophisticated public. Whether an original style will take root depends entirely on the soil, which, in this case, is the history and culture of the country where this particular style takes shape. Note that the delightful creations of Japanese designers are in harmony with our notions of the philosophy of the Land of the Rising Sun; they evoke both mystery and deep reverence at the same time. By contrast, English style conveys a sense of classic durability and elegance.
According to fashion historian Alexander Vasilyev, Russia lacks a national trump card. He explains: "All trump cards were taken away by the emigrants in the early 1920s. They showed the world that Russia boasted distinctive headscarves, matryoshkas (nested Russian dolls), high boots, fur caps and embroidered teapot cocks." Also lost is an appreciation of Russian folk costumes. In any country except Russia, you can find people wearing the national dress. Russian national costumes are neglected almost to the point of antipathy in this country. If a fashion-conscious woman tells a female friend that her dress looks like a Russian sarafan [sleeveless dress worn by Russian peasant women], she will hardly take this as a compliment.
This does not mean that our designers must search for inspiration only in the folk arts and crafts. Their lack of interest in Russian decorative-applied art is merely one of the many manifestations of the "isolation" of Russian fashion from its roots. Our designers are turning their gaze to the West. If we look closely at the complex but interesting history of our country and at the wealth of its cultural heritage, we will be bound to ponder over this point: Certainly it is possible to derive something better from our cultural heritage than Khokhloma paintings and the label ‘Made in the USSR'.
By Svetlana Paderina
