Sew On. Vika Gazinskaya AW14

March 9, 2014March 9, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Well… The most interesting Russian designer, Vika Gazinskya, just went out of ideas. Sorry, but sew-on-badges embroidered on caps and dresses look a bit… Home-made? But not hand-made- rather “sewn because I was bored”. And these trompe l’oil printed dresses and blouses? So Maison Martin Margiela. Even those “tattoos” look deja vu (see Viktor & Rolf Haute Couture for Summer). I thought that Vika was the only future of Russian fashion. But, unfortunately, as you may see, she is getting traumatically boring about her ideas. And that’s a pitty.

HC: Ulyana Sergeenko SS14

January 22, 2014January 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ulyana Sergeenko, the Russian designer in Paris that thinks she will bit the world (unfortunately) already bit it up badly. The wife of a millionaire once thought, that she wants to be a fashion designer. A COUTURE designer. So her dream come true. And here is her forth collection. First of all, I don’t have anything to Kazachstan- indeed, I think their culture is beautiful just like their country. But… a collection that was inspired with traditional Kazachstan clothes and Parisian boudoir is a big mistake. Reminding cheaper looking Anna Karenina, Ulyana made her ideas come to life with a shiny collection full of hand-made Russian fabrics, ugly colours and red satin. AND THAT WEDDING CAKE GOWN. That’s too much. The model looked like a meringue! However, good news are here: male funs of Sergeenko can feel priviledged. Ulyana Sergeenko designs menswear… without footwear. If you feel brave, just have a peek how the collection looked like.

Flamingos. Vika Gazinskaya SS14

October 9, 2013October 9, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Vika Gazinskaya, the smart-chic Russian designer based in Paris, have just presented her SS14 collection. As Vika is not only a fresh designer, but she is too a street style phenomena (just have a peep at Tommy Ton’s street snaps from Parisian Fashion Week), her new collection is a mix of minimalism and hand drawn prints of trees, flamingos and water. Kept mostly in pink/beige, silver polishing and white colours, the look book reminds of a light Summer somewhere on the lake. Gazinskaya creates each season her own characteristic style in her clothes, thanks too beautiful Russian craftsmanship and Parisian chic she simply got inside. Her new season collection is now available at Moda Operandi trunkshows!

HC: Ulyana Sergeenko AW13

July 2, 2013January 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ulyana Sergeenko third Haute Couture show was a third disappointment. Sorry, but for me she is not a designer, but a wife of a rich guy in Russia that decided one day to be a fashion designer. This is kind of sad because some people think that Ulyana in reality is an ultra talented designer… This season was a plunder in Sergeenko’s Grandma wardrobe- with ugly, velvet, black dresses, fur coats and flower embroideries that looks totally the same as last winter. It’s all a mirror view of the designer style- everybody seems to know from street style pics, that Sergeenko loves all these ball gowns and everything that looks uncomfortable and purely expensive.
Well, there were FEW looks I enjoyed, but it felt deja vu to me- the fur cape with flower embroideries on top is beautiful, but it’s a copy of Haute Couture AW12. There is nothing new in this collection, I would say there is even less than it was in past. And these gorsets… They look so bad! The clothes are like if a old grammy from Russian village would put on her old dresses made from same fabrics but sold cheaper in the past, and then went to Paris, saying that it’s a new trend.

Russian Forests. Vika Gazinskaya AW’14

March 16, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Yesterday when I saw Vika’s Gazinskaya new collection for autumn-winter I fell in love with her. Vika is a Russian seriously talented designer that is known for street style aestethics, graphical prints and minimalistic silhouttes. This season it was pretty mature with a youth vibe that gave these little foxy muppets! Lots of beautiful coats, paper jewellery (Gazinskaya classics), leather, ruffles were seen. And what’s more, in the lookbook the model that wore the clothes was standing in real snow and had a deep, dark forest behind her… This collection is so beautiful and awesome. Love it. And you?The fox topic was my favourite one in collection. You can chose from a muppet scarf or a mini fashionable fox costume! And thanks god, Vika is more eco, opposite to Ulyana Sergeenko, and uses faux fur! So no harm! And effect? Even better than with real fur.Sad that Vika together with her fashion Russian mafia- Miroslava Duma, Elena Perminova and Anya Zhiorouvna- already show all the clothes during fashion week… There was no real surprise unfortunately, but still, Vika Gazinskaya is a great designer.