A beautiful, Russian tale was told at Ulyana Sergeenko‘s autumn-winter 2017 haute couture show. The brand is known for its ultra-focus on traditional, slowly dying craftsmanship coming straight from Russia – take the Yelets and Vologda lace techniques, which make Sergeenko’s lady-like dresses look truly one-of-a-kind. The collection orbited around two themes. One was especially intimate for the designer herself –  it was a photo of Ulyana Sergeenko’s grandmother taken 64 years ago in eastern Kazakhstan, wearing a black dress with white-collar. Ulyana dedicated the collection to her beloved grandmothers – Sonya, Nina and Zina – making her lucky clients feel the love embedded in these intricate embroideries. The other, darker side of this collection was inspired by Old Holywood’s elegance and Soviet crime stories feauturing spies and gangsters – the all-black looks had something sexy badass about them (for a reason). Fancy, very femme fatale fur coats are here, too.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki (backdrop: a still from Renata Litvinova’s ‘Rita’s Last Fairy-Tale’).