Direct speech: designer Vika Gazinskaya
A designer in our time is such a multi-store. He often has to deal with everything - from casting to PR. The division of labor is fine, but it’s all about money. If you have the money to hire the right people - and the right, professional people are much more expensive - then you hire them. And since today there is nothing for me to pay all these people, I have to combine many professions and do everything myself. It is clear that my friends help me as much as possible, and those who work for me often do more than they should. A lot of things are kept on the enthusiasm and hope that all this will turn into an invested enterprise.
Shooting of the lookbook SS 2011. Photos: Maxim Emelyanov
The history of Russian design is about fashion games, and then to the "fashion" in quotes. You can make money on this, but this is not a year, not two and not five. Even according to the western model, it takes a lot of time - the brand gradually has accessories, perfume, it merges into a large company, into a group that pulls up resources and distributes them to five to ten companies. And it is important to find a normal investor who will not advertise his wife, but believe that your product is a business that requires an investment of money and time to get the money back. Unfortunately, Russia is a country where everyone needs to quickly. Why do you need long-term investment if you can quickly get a lot of money in other areas?
Our buyer has a little patriotism. He has an abundance of Western-style things, and he believes in Russian design last. The buyer just wants to get the result - a beautiful finished product, from the show to the thing on the hanger. His problems should not be of any interest to us, this is the business of the state, which is obliged to invest in the industry so that it brings in money. But the state does not need this either, so it turns out that only the designer needs it. And the designer is left to grope his way in Russia alone with his personal enthusiasm.
"One of the sources of inspiration was Musical Theatrewhich was built by the Coolas Agency in Dallas. It happened unexpectedly - I chose fabrics, on one of the sites I came across this building, and it somehow got into my idea. I just began to think about colors, I liked the combination of concrete and glass, and I did everything according to the same principle of combining heavy and translucent fabrics. Even this time I have a lot pleated skirtssimilar to the stairs from the same theater in Dallas. And the image with flared pants is from the 70s. Rock'n'roll. The main inspirer of course Robert Plant, which in such pants just spoke. I have a long love for Led Zeppelin, I use their songs in most of my soundtracks. It may not be very good to repeat, but somehow they fit into the music of my shows. And then I took the clothes. "
You will be interesting to the Russian consumer only when you gain fame in the West, because the Russian is still looking to the West. This has historically been the case; for hundreds of years, nothing has really changed here. In a good way, this is right: we never dictated fashion, it's not tanks or weapons, which is why we are looking there.
I don’t give up the thought that I can be a guest designer in a western house. I have every chance for this and many years to come. The same Elbaz was in Geoffrey Beene, and in Yves Saint Laurent, where he was not thrown, but he got accustomed in a brilliant way only in one house. Moreover, he is not so young. A young designer at 35 is real. So I still have a lot of time.
You can try to work at the same time on the western house and make your own line - there are such examples. The same Galliano, for example. Of course, large houses require a big return - I don’t know how Stefano Pilati would be able to combine work in Yves Saint Laurent and parallel lines. Here is how it goes. I will make my brand, and then how it will come out. I don’t lose my name. Olivier Tyskens, who is now making a line for Theory, can always return to what he started under his name. So all the time that I work for my brand, I still work for my name and for the feeling of what I basically represent.
Most of all, I would like to develop my brand into a full-fledged business, which in the end will bring money. It is clear that with my line of dozens of beautiful high-end gowns of high quality I will not bring money to the investor. The first line in the luxury brand brings the least money. This face, advertisement, brand feeling, is what they wear on the red carpet. Income brings everything else - second, third lines. So the mass product is the logical next step. This is a huge potential for the future, where mass consumer goods, accessories, perfumes and so on should appear. And now the problem is to find a person who would believe in it, and did not start a toy for himself. It is clear that the creative director should keep track of everything; he chooses and approves sketches that the second-line designer draws, for example. But making only 25 beautiful dresses is just silly. It is not viable today, it will be such a fashion game. I always say that to every Yves Saint Laurent - according to Pierre Berger.
Event: Vika Gazinskaya Show at Look At Me