A Russian Tale. Ulyana Sergeenko AW17

July 6, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

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’).

#InstaLOVE – November

November 17, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

@frolburimskiy

I am an Instagram maniac and I openly confess that I spend too much time on filtering my feed. But it’s irresistible, when you have so many great accounts to follow! If you are ready for a dose of beautifully curated walls, inspiring photos and delightful shots – see my November recommendations!

@hannitarae / What I love about Hannah Rae’s Instagram feed? Her truly #NoFilter photographs from Peruvian mountain expeditions and Andean ceremonies. Those photos are filled with love, and it’s visible that she’s in love with Peru. The one above is my favourite.

@camillamengengstrom / Camilla’s illustrations and prints make my day. They will make your day, too.

@ontherocks_mag / An independent biannual magazine on the subject of jewellery. The editorial from issue 4, featuring Aida and Charlotte Wales’ photographs, is captivating. Glamour! Opulence! Feeling it.

@frolburimskiy / Burimskiy is Ulyana Sergeenko’s (the tsaritsa of Moscow’s fashion) business partner, but also her stylish right hand. Right now, both of them are in Los Angeles, taking photographs next to palms and Matthew McConaughey (casually). But on the daily basis, Frol shares inspirational images of Mother Russia in its full grace, past and present.

@inezandvinoodh / I love Inez & Vinoodh photographs; I love Lady Gaga’s Joanne, just like her style transformation. Obviously, the editorial from the latest Harper’s Bazaar is too good to be true, immersed dreamy spring-summer 2017 Marc Jacobs. Ahh.

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.

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.