Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Kiev: Reporting
From October 19 to October 23, the third season of Kiev Fashion Days took place in Kiev - it is the first season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Kiev. At the request of Look At Me, Julia Ghoz went to lectures and screenings at Olimpiyskiy and wrote about what she saw there.
A few days before the start of Kiev Fashion Days, it became known that they were renamed to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Kiev. The surprise was not caused by the fact itself, but by the fact that the organizers did not hesitate to admit that the decision was made a day before the press conference. Such haste was surprising for a conservative brand. But the fact of acquiring KFD of such significant status immediately raised an event in the eyes of the Kiev adult fashionable party from the position "that strange hipster event that Kazbek and Dasha do" to ... no, I'd rather illustrate it with a sharp sketch of Tatiana Kremin, co-owner of the Kiev shop "Puree" and MBFWK exhibition area participant:
- Tell me, - the parking attendant at the Republican stadium is interested in intimate tone, - and how long will this last? “Until Sunday,” I say. - And tonight will be too? - Well, yes ... - And there will be cars like yesterday? Such ... - makes a circle with his hands, - well, such decent, rich ones. With ladies! - the last word with a gasp. - They will! - I promise and run on. The next day, anxiously: - No, well, yesterday the public was somehow worse, worse. Tell me, what will happen today?
The second change was the new venue - the restored Olympic NSC. Unfortunately, he was much inferior to Arsenal.
But when the list of designers was finally approved, it turned out that only Sasha Kanevsky was left from the original line-up of progressive and young (namely, the organizers were always proud of him). Those young designers who were chosen to be shown on the main catwalk, under other conditions, could count only on participation in the presentations - the Pretenders program.
Shows
Show Sasha Kanevsky eventually pulled the podium program. The choice of the main references of Kanevsky fell on the subculture of motorcyclists, which was reflected in the details of protective equipment (uniforms of different subcultures - Kanevsky's company reception), as well as in the “spirit of perishability that elusively hovers over the podium”. This spirit was especially clearly manifested in the context of a leather skeleton vest on the healthy model Lola Dikova. Rusty prints, neoprene swimsuits with anatomical details and hard denim combined with shoes and accessories (high shoes and bags that resembled cans and motorcycle tanks) Kofta developed into one of Kanevsky’s best collections.
Anna Octoberwhich closed MBFWK also found inspiration in other worlds. The music introducing into trance, smoke, which turned out to be superfluous, because, settling, made the catwalk slippery, the luminous make-up of models and even such detail as a light-green laser beam to ankle models created the perfect show in the style of the mysterious northern forest ". This is exactly the case when a competently directed show can distract from shortcomings in the collection. The very same collection consisted mainly of dresses with basque or with loops, and the main fabric was chiffon with small polka dots of different colors. Some dresses were decorated with fringe, which was sewn either on the side or on the second layer on the skirt.
Another Odessite Julia Pascal I chose to use a lot of synthetic fabrics in the collection, having achieved the effect of wet skin and shimmer that is now fashionable. But, unfortunately, it was too obvious that the fabrics were not of the highest quality, and the display of the dress and the skirts of perforated fabric of white, black and blue colors saved. This technique, which Christopher Kane so successfully used on the skin a few seasons ago, made us remember the show, because there’s nothing more to say about him.
The collection of the second line of Lily Pustovit I remember first of all the details: collars "Peter Pan" on gray sweatshirts, falling on one shoulder, bright red ribbons and accessories in combination with bright green and smoky grayish fabric in a small print. Pustovit has one remarkable quality: she knows how to stop on time and prefers understatement, which always favorably affects her collections.
Kostya OmelyaThe former part of the O.K. brand, like Miuccia Prada last season, and in this Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, was inspired by the sea inhabitants and water. So many scales, sequins and other marine references will be difficult to find in any other collection. In this case, he had to stop at the third or fourth outfit, but sheathed the entire collection with sequins was a failure. A complete failure was in the finals to choose the song Florence and The Machine, which sounded live in the finals of the show Chanel SS 2012.
And here we come to the shows Anton Belinsky and Sasha Glybina. These two very young designers were previously represented in the Pretenders zone, where their collections looked no more than experiments, but on the main runway it was a fatal failure. The best thing about such an experiment on immature designers was Robb Young.
Robb Young, author, author Power Dressing: First Ladies, Women Politicians & Fashion: “We have to understand that there is a young industry here, but during the shows of some young designers, even I could see that they had problems with designs, that some things do not fit very well even on models. Of course, this is cool, that young designers are helping here that they are provided with such a platform and they receive so much attention. But at the same time, this is a lot of pressure. It seems to me that you shouldn’t highlight young people too early, because it can also do them a lot of harm. One and the same designer will look absolutely differently at different stages of their development, and if a buyer or a journalist sees his things too early, then this can turn out badly for a designer. After all, the first impression is the most important. "
Darius Haj-Najafi, fashion-editor of the British Vice: “It seems to me that the music could have been a little louder and the direct catwalk would look more professional. I also hope that next time there will be more new names, young designers, and also expand the exhibition area. I didn’t have enough photo exhibitions. But we all understand that this is a young brand, this is the beginning. Therefore, I don’t absolutely criticize, I just want to help to some extent. But lectures are very unusual, you should be proud of it, because this is almost never done. Of the designers, I liked Sasha’s show Glybina, and this style and subcultures for me and close. "
Romain Bro, co-founder and buyer of clothing store RA13: “I liked the organization, it’s just amazing how in just three seasons such results could be achieved. But as a buyer, I’m missing something like showrooms after the shows. It would be nice to give space to each of the designers and invite us later to the presentation , to get acquainted with the clothes better. I think this is a great idea. It will not be worth the money and it will only be to the benefit of the designer. I think it should be done by next season. I went after some backstage shows to watch the clothes and P communicate with the designer, but it was all rolled up in plastic.
And I'm also somewhat shocked at how early designers start working here. We have the first full-fledged collection done at best in 27 years, and here - before we finish graduating. I would recommend to study first. I've been looking at the work of some designers, and they were interesting, but absolutely obvious - not yet completed, unfinished. I ask: "How old are you?" - "19". Imagine, he is 19 years old and he has already founded his own brand. It is very strange. After all, he does not know anything about fabrics, about patterns, about business. In order to learn this, we need time and a good school, which is not in Ukraine now. "
Lectures
This season, the lectures were informative, and, most importantly, they were conducted by historians and theorists of fashion, as well as fashion editors of the most advanced journals, with whom they would hardly have been able to communicate in other conditions. I would like to note this point: it is communication with such people that changes the psychology of parochialism, which is more or less present in all those who are not inhabitants of the four fashionable capitals, and, of course, thank you for that. And thanks for the sincere laugh, which constantly broke off some of the lecturers when one of the translators made mistakes. Even poorly knowledgeable English or very educated people crawled out of their chairs with laughter.
Emanuele D'Angelo, photographer, fashion editor of Pop magazine: "I was surprised that so many young people in Ukraine are interested in fashion. Not only was the hall at all the shows crowded, there were also many people standing on the balcony and watching the shows from above. I also like the lectures here, I am so educational I haven't seen the program yet. Appreciate it. "
The lecture hall, which by design was a presidential lodge, had an amazing view of the stadium, it was worth visiting lectures just for the sake of it.
The topic of the lecture Valerie Steele, a historian and theorist of fashion, was the question: "Is fashion an art"? Steele in an accessible manner proved that, most likely, yes, but why bother to ask such a question at all, if you can just say, for example, that Alexander McQueen was just a brilliant designer. And her final phrase: “I adore fashion, because there are few in the world of spheres that cause so much enthusiasm and hatred” - served as a kind of leitmotif of the whole MBFWK, because only this made us forget about the lack of Wi-Fi, delayed shows and general feeling chaos, which, to the credit of the organizers, helped to overcome the volunteers.
Kiev brand Ksenia Schnaider held its show online - a video dedicated to preparing for the show
Every time you wonder how much you can do on the bare enthusiasm and faith in your work. Now, having such a significant status, it is better not to risk it and to bring under faith a more solid platform of strategic planning, a more serious selection of participants and the organization of exhibition space.