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MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA CLOSES: From Soviet childhood, Japanese cartoons to self-isolation
Day 2 of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, for the first time ever taking place totally online, has finished. On April 5, many brands showcased their collections as video presentations at AIZEL.RU, including MIETSA, AMPLITUDA, N.LEGENDA, NASTYA NEKRASOVA, Mineral Weather, SEMILETOVA, DOKUCHAEVA, DIANA ARNO, WHO I AM, RomaUvarovDesign, ÓNOMA:, MADFRENZY, Olya Kosterina, T3CM, RUBAN, Novaya, and IGOR GULYAEV. Ceremony, LEATHER LIKE WOOD, SERAYA, and TSUGI presented their new lookbooks.
Aliona Pole, a virtual model and blogger has attended Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia in a new digital outfit from her capsule of digital clothes https://www.instagram.com/p/B-mdc5-HN7y/. She shared her impressions and favorite shows on the MBFW Russia social media https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kv6s8Hh4h/.
The project by MBFW Russia and TikTok #стильНаДому (in English #StyleatHome) has got over 18 million 800 thousand views. On April 6-7, new workshops will be held on TikTok in a special Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia page.
The second day of online shows by Russian designers for this season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia brought us 17 designers showcased their collections as video presentations, and 4 designers presented their lookbooks.
MIETSA
We started the day with Diana Suleymanova’s MIETSA, an emerging Russian brand launched last year. Suleymanova works with contrasting textures, prints and colors, and is well-known for her unconventional tailoring.
Diana found the inspiration for her collection in the re-emerging popularity of the 90-s casual style and the looks of the characters of Friends, which she revised and transformed into a collection that matches today’s fashion trends. The TV show is full of fuchsia, dark blue, grey-blue and emerald hues. Fabrics with contrasting textures were used in the collection: faux fur, denim, velvet, neoprene, hard tulle, cotton, as well as sequined materials.
Set against a manga-inspired backdrop, the free-flowing silhouettes of the collection composed of light and deep blue dresses, leopard print faux fur coats and jean fabrics.
The runway show was filmed before the quarantine rules took effect, and the full safety of the models was observed during the filming process.
AMPLITUDA
AMPLITUDA (created in 2016 by Alexandra Amplituda) focuses on futuristic dresses, corsets and accessories, made from extraordinary objects. All AMPLITUDA collections stem from inspiration sourced from religious iconography and myth and are inspired by the aesthetics of ancient civilizations. The AMPLITUDA woman is both an ancient muse and a warrior woman.
So, it is with this new offering from AMPLITUDA, which explored the relationship between weakness and strength, femininity and masculinity. Plastic metallic corsets emblazoned with crystalline patterns – the brand’s signature piece – were featured, as well as other armor-like pieces that highlight the role of the woman as a symbol of power. Shimmery faux-fur coats were also part of this collection, combined with fluffy tulle dresses. All was accompanied with corsets of plastic tubing and wire – brutalist yet tender – and belts that used a pair of mannequin hands as a buckle – a truly daring move of Mugler proportions.
N.LEGENDA
Olga Kapitonova’s concept-brand N.LEGENDA (founded in 2012) made a welcome return to the runway, with a Fall-Winter 2020-2021 collection heavily inspired by cyberpunk and resembling a sort of chaotic whirlwind of influences for the new reality that is only beginning to take shape before our eyes. Tailored cloaks, jackets and coats reminded one of Blade Runner, while demi-seasonal pieces allowed for significant flexibility.
Androgyny seemed to be the order of the day, with gorgeous leather jackets, long dresses and futuristic tops, all pleated and folded into elegant silhouettes, equally well-suited for all genders.
NASTYA NEKRASOVA
Launched by Anastasia Nekrasova in 2017, this brand specializes in both menswear and womenswear, with a strong focus on the artistic side of the fashion industry. “Clothing should evoke feelings and even change one’s inner world. When clothes can change you, it becomes real art, and at the same time a way of communication, bringing together people who speak different languages”, Anastasia says.
We see this in her new collection, devoted to the childhood feelings of adventure and experimentation with one’s own style. “As kids, we do reckless things. We can cut our mother’s fur-coat into pieces to make a teddy bear, or draw on freshly painted walls, or color our grandmother’s old photographs. We dream of going to space and conquering the world. We speak nothing but the truth and are open to the entire world.”
The new set of garments from Nekrasova featured coats with bold graphics, winged sleeves and hand-embroidered iconography of old photographs, asiatic carpet patterns, punch cards and bright slogans such as BAD GIRL and FOREVER. An overall sense of familiarity spread over this collection, making this trip to the Soviet childhood of yesteryear a particularly pleasant one.
Mineral Weather
Mineral Weather is an accessory brand started in 2011 by two independent Moscow-based artists – Alexander Olkhovsky and Anna Pavlova. Pieces by Mineral Weather are unique small-scale sculptural objects, works of contemporary art in the medium of jewelry. The brand makes objects that become talismans and wards for their customers.
Rather than creating separate collection, the brand takes a more fluid approach to their releases – their way of creating objects is not always linear – each time, the designers are inspired by something new: today, that’s a bird from a Renaissance painting, tomorrow that’s a moving abstract form referring to human corporeality, and the day after tomorrow, that’s a hare from a medieval manuscript.
Within their new campaign video, a modern day Thumberlina wanders around their workshop, exploring the various molds and treasures that make up Mineral Weather’s beautiful items.
SEMILETOVA
The SEMILETOVA brand was founded in 2019 by Maria Semiletova, a graduate of the British School of Art and Design. The brand philosophy is based on a responsible and eco-friendly approach to all the stages of product making along with the inspiring idea of feminine power. The brand follows the reasonable consumption principle and suggests reconsidering people’s attitude to wearing clothes, taking care and disposing of them.
Her new collection only uses organic and recycled fibers. Traditional clean cuts, noble silhouetting and deep color hues in this new collection, making it one for powerful and dynamic women who demand respect. These clothes are made for women aspiring to find balance, for strong, complete and dynamic spirits having deep respect for every moment of living, and therefore wishing their looks and clothing to deliver stories, to talk about themselves, to manifest their beliefs. This new collection showed garments in muted colors – olive, black and drab grey – in fringed geometrical patterns or featured in shimmery silk jumpsuits.
DOKUCHAEVA
Anastasia Dokuchaeva’s brainchild, first started in 2017, made its return to the runway after becoming one of the most recognized Russian fashion brands. Dokuchaeva’s entire modus operandi is “out with the old, in with the new”, freedom from cultural, gendered and societal restraints.
Her new creation is BASE – a mix & match assortment of looks for any occasion. The BASE collection is just that – a base for one’s wardrobe, that one can swap and combine as one wishes. Faux-leather coats accessorized with masks, light summery trenches and robes, free-fitting shirts of white linen – this is a set for the free and easygoing, who love to accessorize and feel comfortable in their own skin.
DIANA ARNO
DIANA ARNO brand, founded back in 2011, has been known for its timeless pieces. The collections by DIANA ARNO are like a dialogue between the past and the present. Reinterpreting femininity while capturing the spirit of the modern woman, the brand aims to offer elegant womenswear.
Her new collection tells a story of a modern woman. By utilizing elegantly streaming silky fabrics and traditional tailoring, the designer declares her heroine’s identity. Presenting a fresh interpretation of the trouser suit, fresh takes on feminine silk dresses and unconventional use of pleats, the new collection is an elegant gesture towards modern classics. Combinations of laconic cuts and printed thorned roses create a dark romantic atmosphere, setting the mood for this season.
Coats of dark pleated fabric, trouser suits in muted tan and dresses with rose prints in a muted orange formed the crux of this stylish fall collection.
WHO I AM
The WHO I AM project, started in 2013 by Jacob Yakubov is a multifunctional art project that comprises an art space, a jewelry and fashion brand and a production facility. The WHO I AM manifesto proclaims ethical, slow fashion and conscious consumption first and foremost, with a focus on individualism, minimalism and classic silhouettes.
The brand presents its fully handmade collection in the oldest Moscow-based concept store, LEFORM. Titled BALANCE, the collection included men’s and women’s woolen suits, long sleeves, turtlenecks, sweatshirts, trousers, as well as every day and evening gowns. A wide range of outerwear is available: down jackets, raincoats, bomber jackets, and overcoats. The designers also offered several interpretations of the classic white shirt. Particular attention was paid to sport-style pieces: hoodies, sweatshirts, and trousers for comfortable flights, sport activities, and meditation. The authentic WHO I AM spirit is still present in the collection, but the designers have abandoned the extremely precise and sophisticated designs in favor of comfort and variety. Their garments have become more affordable, while the quality of materials is as high as before.
This new collection presented a meditation in silver and dark hues, with high-waisted silhouettes, palazzo trousers, wide-cut jackets and vests, and comfy outerwear.
RomaUvarovDesign
,,Crazy clothes with an idea” is the ultimate concept behind the brand – a theme that reveals itself more and more clearly with each new collection. The young brand has managed to win the hearts of both Russian and European media with its unusual vision. The designer is not afraid to rethink almost all aspects of men’s and women’s fashion and present them afresh to the public in a manner that reflects a very bold vision. Roman Uvarov considers deconstruction to be his main method. He is also inclined towards capturing a sense of playfulness in his work.
His new collection, shown as a conceptual movie collage, showed his signature long polka dot dresses, school uniforms, puffy hair clips and evoked dreams of Soviet space programs, optimistic retrofuturism and a childhood fascination with the world around you.
ÓNOMA:
The ÓNOMA: brand, started by Sandra Gutsati and Inna Bodrova in 2017, specializes in embroidery and appliqués that transform dresses into moving pictures. Their new collection was presented in the form of a videoconference between the designers and the models, all stuck at home because of the quarantine. The designers make all their embroideries themselves, presenting the audience unique complete works that can’t be repeated.
In fact, the collection itself was titled Self-isolation. “This is a good time to start feeling things – keener and deeper. This is time for intuition and harmonization, for purification and accumulation. This the time to feel unity through the unity of the position all of us are in. We are there alone – and yet we’re together, bound with hundreds of invisible threads, connecting us through walls and distances. We’re together” tell the designers of their new creation. Embroideries on the dresses show images of people that used to surround us and that are far away now.
Transparent and wispy dresses of smoky tulle are embroidered with bright orange or green lines, all forming gentle portraits and pictures.
MADFRENZY
This conceptual brand, founded in 2017 by Vadim Neumeykov and Vsevolod Olenin, and inspired by its creators’ childhood spent on military bases, presented a special collection titled Taiga, named after Russia’s native biome.
Its diverse flora and fauna, connecting with industrialization sites in the very heart of Russia, is the basis for design. Outerwear pieces were inspired by the aesthetics of blue-collar workers in the Siberian region. This interlocking of two very different subjects resulted in a collection of universal clothing with bright graphic highlights matching the Spring/Summer season.
Shown as a short movie, the MADFRENZY team presented a video lookbook of mostly outerwear pieces.
Olya Kosterina
Yaroslavl designer Olya Kosterina’s new Fall-Winter 2020-2021 collection shows us a girl who explores a post-apocalyptic urban environment. She is the evocation of a classic anime character: strong, untimely, amusing, and elegant in her personal way. She is bold and fragile at once, thirsty for adventure and unmistakably feminine.
Pleats, one of the key elements of the brand’s design, are a part of this collection in many ways: from small details and pleated blocks to a dress entirely made of more than 30 pleated details converged into a single playful volume.
Each pleated product is made manually by the brand team through the use of paper templates and the couture approach. The collection is complemented by printed pieces: checks and roses, a curtsy to the Japanese cartoon universe.
T3CM
As designer Dmitry Klyuchevsky himself states in his video presentation, he decided to model his own collection himself. The new T3CM collection is dedicated to the story of the collapse of Rana Plaza building. ,,I photographed several labels in the nearest supermarket, chose the ones transmitting globalization issues and used them to make appliqués and prints,” said the brand designer Dmitry Klyuchevsky. The collection is a public statement about the negative side of globalization.
This new offering by the artistic Kyuchevsky is composed of artistic outerwear (all painted with abstract art or graphic prints made up from cut-up corporate logos), and was fully filmed at the designer’s own home. Oversized coats and sweatshirts, cut-up suits, trench coats and sweaters, and Rana Plaza logos showed us a conceptual yet modern streetwear critique of corporatism and globalization.
RUBAN
Sisters Alisa and Julia Ruban founded the RUBAN brand in 2010. Several iconic awards confirmed their success and made them assured they’d chosen a correct direction for their designer duo development. Fine work with delicate fabrics, mostly natural ones, combinations of complex textures, layering and transformability are the distinguishing features of the brand.
RUBAN brand continues the story of the Fall/Winter collection 2020-2021, but this time online, complementing the story with a lookbook and a QR code system. The designers focused on self-cognition. This is how they ended up with a brand-specific collection, following the spirit of intellectual minimalism with its fundamentally new content.
Sheepskin jackets, long dresses of thick black velvet and coats of terracotta and brown made up a fascinating assortment of tender, yet very solid garments, inspired by the drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal, a Spanish scientist, one of the founders of neurobiology. His drawing style became the starting point for the key pattern of the duo’s collection and the art features within the design.
Light marine tones were also seen on the bright striped shirts, while the dresses showed off intricate diagrams of Cajal’s graphs and schematics.
Novaya
An independent brand started by Olga Golubeva, Novaya.
According to the traditions of the brand, during the creation of the Fall/Winter 2020-2021 collection Olga used an extensive assortment of hues: glossy black, beige, deep green, and shades of red.
Showcasing her new collection within a flyby of large megapolises – from Paris to Seoul to her native St. Petersburg, Golubeva strived for technological performance and ultimate comfort, using top quality fabrics like dense cotton, light but strong nylon, high-tech netting, and shape-memory polyester. There have been some additions in the form of functional details, too: voluminous pockets, long thumbhole cuffs, neck fasteners, and sleeve length adjustment lapels.
Playing with the normcore vibes of modern Balenciaga, the new Novaya collection was a definite choice for the Fall of 2020.
IGOR GULYAEV
Gulyaev, whose fashion house was founded in 1999, has traditionally closed every season of MBFW Russia. His early collections were worn by Kanye, Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone, while his latter work – still fully produced in Saint Petersburg – continues to gather attention both in Russia and abroad.
In creating his new collection, simply titled ,,Streetwear”, Gulyaev followed three principles: uniqueness, comfort, and no rules.
Rounding up this week was a bright and vivid streetwear collection of sweaters, puffy hats, biker jackets, face masks and – Gulyaev’s favorite – ushankas. All in red, black and white, a favorite combination for the designer.
All designs bore the logo of Gulyaev’s name, as well as his slogan of GULYAY! (“Take a hike!”). This online show, filmed right by the designer’s own studio, proved to be an energetic and passionate ending for this unique online fashion week.
Ceremony
Robert Voronetsky continues his game of contrasts and combines in his collections the styles that seem to be totally unmatching: luxe and underground street style. The new collection is a designer’s speculation about what Martian colonists might look like when living on another planet will become quite common. Every look is colored black, and basic casual pieces like trousers, turtle-necks, or trenches.
LEATHER LIKE WOOD
This is how Elena Tarabakina, founder of the brand, describes her accessory collection, “Russian uniqueness materialized in accessories.” All the accessories are 100% made of local materials and handmade in Moscow. Elena experiments with shapes and materials, which makes it possible for her to present a lamb leather pillow bag. Elena experimented with the bag design, too, and this where the abundance of pockets and the unconventional shapes come from.
SERAYA
Ksenia Seraya once again made our day with her top-quality jersey. Heroes of her new Fall/Winter collection feature the designer’s reminiscences about the years spent with test pilots and astronauts in a military town of her childhood. Asymmetric armor-like hand-knitted sweaters, jersey dresses, cardigans, trousers, bulky scarves and knitted headsets, repeating test pilots’ uniform of the 1980-90s, are colored black and white, with some touches of red. To make her capsule, Ksenia used merino wool yarn, kid mohair, and assorted viscose.
TSUGI
At Fall/Winter 2020 collection TSUGI brand extends its assortment and showcases three series at once: LIMITED, REPREVE, and UNIFORM. Each of those series feature a bright example of careful attitude to nature, something known today as sustainable fashion. Most of the looks are made of recycled ocean plastic, and the rest of the fabrics are excesses obtained from production plants. It is rather obvious that TSUGI’s aesthetics is based on freedom of expression – all the neon strident shades and loose silhouettes. Shirts resembling kimonos, loose trousers, wrap dresses, and massive shoes – these are the things identifying the girl who would wear TSUGI’s looks next autumn.
Let us remind you that virtual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia is taking place on April 4 to 6. Live streams can be followed from anywhere in the world at AIZEL.RU и MEGOGO.NET.
DJ GROOVE is responsible for the musical accompaniment of digital #MBFWRussia.
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