Fashion weekend in Kyiv

Last weekend a fashion show in Kyiv showcased collections by Ukraine’s leading designers and trendsetters, including Nota Bene & Karavay, Anna Bublik, Tetiana Zemskova/Olena Vorozhbyt, Oksana Karavanska, Andre Tan, WAWA, and Viktoria Gres by Gres.

Iryna Karavay’s collection had a touch of humor to it, evidenced by bright but not loud, colors, hand-made and seemingly hypertrophied accessories, original needlework and ornaments using Swarovski crystals. The dresses were mostly short, with sophisticated styles and high waistlines. Humor or not, this collection fell under the de luxe category, owing to the use of expensive fabrics, decorative materials, and a lot of handwork. At a press conference after the show Karavay said she may eventually launch another line of exclusive design accessories, but that’s a long way off. This year the Nota Bene & Iryna Korovay Design Studio took the risk of launching the second industrial NBKaravay line that was shown as part of the Trade Mark Defile show.

Anna Bublik is also focusing on fabrics. Her collections are always feminine, meant for glamorous women. At the same time they are very practical and can be worn every day.

You can find flirtatious jabots, long smoky patent leather gloves, shoes, and coats. Gray business trousers are interesting but understated, and her lantern-shaped sleeves are voluminous, transparent constructions. Bublik has brought back shorts — short ones and knee- length — from her previous seasons. These are worn over pants to rid a suit of its business status. She sees her dresses short (like in previous seasons) dominated by pink, yellow, and sky-blue colors, along with romantic decorations, like artificial flowers.

Tetiana Zemskova and Olena Vorozhbyt are working with an eye to their clients who work in business. This time they showed business suits, vests, and furs on coat collars, which provide more resistance to the cold, as well as long and short pleated dresses and other garments.

Karavanska was one step ahead of designer Andre Tan with her emphasis on green shades. Whereas Tan proclaimed lime the 2008-09 season’s trendsetting color, Karavanska simply added it to her collection in the form of leather gloves and scarves. In an attempt to add eccentricity, the designer added decorative holes to some clothes with checked designs, embellishing others with geometrical appliques. She showed her imaginative side with her use of black and white colors.

Andre Tan’s impressionistic fashion show was viewed by a sell- out audience. One would be hard put to describe the gray color that dominated his show, although the accessories, like palette-shaped hats and different colored shoes were graphic proof of this impressionistic trend. Tan adds volume to his garments, including skirts: they have to be medium length, gray, but designed in a special cutting style that fully makes up for the lack of colors. What made his collection captivating was the use of emerald decorations, along with violet, which he brought back from his previous seasons. As his models paraded down the catwalk, artists in the audience were sketching portraits.

WAWA’s collection, dedicated to air pilots, was full of vigorous youthfulness. The 2008-09 fall/winter season for men features narrow trousers with very low waistlines, a sure sign that a man cares about the way he looks rather than about the latest fashion trend. There were shirts designed in the style of regulation pilot shirts with aviation logos, checkered pants, suits, leather jackets with lots of pockets — as though borrowed from the millionaire pilot Howard Hughes — and, of course, patent leather.

It is no exaggeration to say that Viktoria Gres’s collection was the most refined one. She created a 100 percent romantic show complemented, as usual, by special stage effects, including “snow” and lampposts from our distant past, with city streets and people walking up and down, wearing contemporary clothes. There were luxurious fur- collared coats done in a restrained style, accessories, short coats with needlework ornamentation; long comfortable skirts, and blouses made of chiffon, lace, and applique. Romanticism can be interpreted in a variety of ways — primitively or as refined art, like in the case of Viktoria Gres.