Shock time fashion

The 29th Ukrainian Fashion Week finished on October 17 in the Mystetsky Arsenal. In our subjective opinion its brightest events were the new collection by Lilia Poustovit, the show of three Italian designers Cristiano Burani, Francesca Liberatore and Mauro Gasperi and the unexpected for many people (and even for the organizers) appearance of the overseas party-goer Paris Hilton on the runway.

Andre Tan that belongs to the middle generation of Ukrainian designers has never lacked attention of the audience. His shows have always been overcrowded. How can this fever be explained? Probably, not only by his designer’s gift but by marketing as well. This time designer’s marketing genius with the support of millionaire Oleksandr Onyshchenko resulted in a full house for Andre Tan’s show (by the way, it was his second line collection). However, the center of attention was not the collection but one of the models, Paris Hilton, who has recently come to Kyiv for the first time. All night long designer’s team sewed a dress for the dear and expensive guest, most of the audience (however, not all of them) were beside themselves with happiness and during the press conference our fellow journalists thanked the wealthy heiress “very-very much” for coming to Ukraine again. This glamor idyll with a provincial flavor would have had nothing special without several “buts.” All those events happened the same day when Europe and the world went through numerous disorders and protest actions. This background gave new nuances to the picture of Paris Hilton on the foreground and our audience’s reaction. The second “but” is purely ethnic. In the lobby interviews the number “half a million” was mentioned related to the star’s visit. Of course, this information has not been verified. Moreover, nobody can deprive millionaires of their right to spend their money as they want but there is the Ukrainian context (not to mention Europe). In this context this “overseas glamor” is the display of a common lack of taste and insensibility to the impulses of the time.

However, the Ukrainian Fashion Week and the Ukrainian world of design are as contrasting as the life is. Lilia Poustovit’s collection that traditionally opened the Ukrainian fashion event No.1 brought an absolutely different view that is much more organic in the Ukrainian and universal present and even future. At least, the future we imagine. The collection “Captive by the Youth and the Past” is made of pure, even chaste enlightened images typical for any Poustovit’s collection; mainly monochrome colors – black, white, deep blue and bright droplets of coral red that, in all probability, will become a trend of the next spring and summer.

From the point of creative work, especially the one of Lilia Poustovit, the Ukrainian fashion turned out to be much closer to the progressive world than the star brought from the “progressive world”.

It is much easier to be the first in the globalized jungle but at the same time it is very easy to get lost there.

The Day took the opportunity to talk to the Belarusian designer Yulia GILEVICH and the representative of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion Eleonora MANGOTTI.

Could you, please, tell about fashion business in Belarus? At what stage of development is it now?

“Over the last two years we have felt livelier interest towards fashion. Previously it was absent. If we compare Ukraine and Belarus, the difference of people’s interest and, accordingly, product promotion is very significant.

“Now every country is switching to its own production. Belarus is moving towards it. People start getting actively interested in what our country produces and stop being focused on popular expensive world brands.”

What about the economic crisis? Doesn’t the Belarusian fashion feel it?

“Of course, it does! We are all in the middle this crisis!”

How do you as business representatives react at the policy of your country, especially the economic one?

“Politics and fashion are so far from each other that they just cannot be related. My personal opinion is that fashion is Belarus is apolitical.”

Does it mean that you can afford not to react at what is happening in your country? Does not political regime reflect on designers’ creative work and their business?

“No! Why? We just have not time to think about it. We are doing our job, and we have a lot of work to do. We have no time to think about politics!”

It is known that the fashion sector makes the lion’s share of the Italian economy. How does the Italian fashion feel today under the crisis?

“It is true that today Italy is in very difficult economic condition and it is very difficult to work. That is why designers, especially young ones try to re-focus and not to work in the premium sector but make clothes for market of cheaper clothes. In its turn, it has caused the problem since this re-focusing has resulted in the fact that today only the market sector is well-presented and is developing. That is why we, the National Camber of Italian Fashion, try to help young designers promote themselves on other markets and bring their collections to different countries. For examples, the clothes by our young designer Cristiano Burani are better sold in Eastern Europe than in Italy. Sometimes we even create special collections for these markets. In particular, we have recently realized a similar project in Russia.”

Do you have the experience of creating similar special projects for the Ukrainian market?

“For example, before this collection [the one presented at the Ukrainian Fashion Week on October 14. – Ed.] went to the Ukrainian Fashion Week it had been slightly changed, we considered certain peculiarities since the audience is different here.”

The Ukrainian fashion positions itself as an apolitical phenomenon. What about the Italian fashion?

“The National Chamber of Italian Fashion is a non-political organization. That is why I cannot voice our official attitude towards the governmental policy since we do not have one. Though, of course, the Italian government has a significant influence on the Italian fashion. It would be great if it supported us with some money, too.

“However, being an Italian citizen I can tell you that our situation is really tragic. There are a lot of economic issues the government has to solve but it does not do it. That is why our country really suffers from this passiveness. We have a lot of unemployed people and low salaries. It is difficult to survive in Italy now.”

You have ssen the Ukrainian fashion here in Kyiv for the first time. What are your impressions?

“I saw a very good level; it is very creative, very fresh and cool at the same time. I think that Ukrainian designers are highly motivated, probably, they have a purely inner motivation, probably, not, but it is true that their works have a special and very strong energy.”