Designer Elena Crian: Feathers, lace and androgyny

After graduating from Brighton University, Elena Crian received a master’s degree from Central Saint Martins. She trained with Hussein Chalayan and Nicole Farhi, and also participated in one of the special projects of Dazed & Confused magazine. But perhaps the most productive practice of the designer was an internship at the house of Alexander McQueen. It all started when Crian assisted Alexander McQueen in the studio when the designer worked on the 2010 cruise collection. After that, she went to India, where she was an intern at the large textile company Anokhi. Upon her return to London, the internship at the fashion house continued: she found the process of creating the last collection of Alexander McQueen and continued working with his brand under Sarah Burton.

"I was involved in all the stages of creating a collection: from searching for ideas to the final stitches before the model went to the podium. Internship at Alexander McQueen was really hard work, but I am grateful that I had the opportunity to observe the designer’s work. an extremely important and poignant moment in the history of fashion. The event has greatly influenced me personally, "says Crian.

In her early collections, Elena worked with form and color: similar experiments were due to interest in the late collections of Issey Miyake and Kenzo. Crian also drew inspiration from the historical costume of the 1920s and 40s. But during the period of study at CSM, the girl’s reference points have changed. So Elena comments on her graduation collection: “I just paid attention to the grass growing through the football net. I liked it and I decided to take this image as the basis of my collection. This was outerwear made of lace, through which the artificial fur“ grows ” feathers". As part of the CSM prom show at London Fashion Week, Crian unleashed guys on the catwalk, wearing sweaters made of lace and furs and netted tights.

This summer, Elena received a paid internship at Tom Ford. “The tasks that were set before me at Tom Ford were not inferior in terms of the responsibility that I had to perform in Alexander McQueen. But I found myself in a completely different fashion world that I hadn’t previously encountered. This difference was largely determined by a small team and customers I’m going to see another project more serious than the previous ones, ”she told us about her current work and future plans.