Sartorial-east: 24 Russian fashion designers you need to know
Russian's fashion scene is little more than 20 years old but it's already burgeoning: there are young Central Saint Martins-educated rebels and small interdependent labels run from designer's flats, an haute couture empress and post-Soviet skater kids.Together they are reinventing ideas of affordable minimalism, conceptual avant-garde and contemporary craftsmanship. Meet 24 Russian designers delivering a new take on how to dress well
25 June 2014
Ulyana Sergeenko
The queen of Paris haute couture, style icon Ulyana Sergeenko is by far the best known Russian designer today, counting the likes of Lady Gaga and Dita Von Teese among her fans. Every single one of Sergeenko’s collections comes with its own romantic story — train travel, fairy tales, American literature — and exquisitve craftsmanship. Her eponymous label employs hundreds of Russian artisans who hand-stitch the tiniest of details from beading to embroidery.
Alexander Terekhov
Russian fashion in the Noughties wasn’t all bling. Thanks to Alexander Terekhov, who trained at Yves Saint Laurent, there were a few Muscovites walking around in fairly tasteful attire. Since then, Terekhov has been designing red carpet dresses for Russian celebrities with his signature blend of city chic with classic glamour. For one of his most recent collections, he played on notions of trashy fashion, using leopard print and gold with more than a hint of irony.
Vika Gazinskaya
Vika Gazinskaya was first spotted at Paris Fashion Week three years ago when she wowed fashion bloggers with her head-turning outfits. Now her minimal yet playful designs can be found in some of the world’s best retailers including Net-a-porter and Browns. A member of the Russian fashion pack, a photogenic group of women with impeccable personal style, Gazinskaya’s recent collaboration with the H&M-owned label & Other Stories has brought her designs to the masses.
Sasha Wider
Since launching her label last year, Sasha Wider has impressed Moscow fashion editors with her intelligent design. Her two collections to date — the first whimsical and feminine, the second, bold and brooding — stand in contrast to each other, revealing the breadth of the recent graduate’s skill and style.
Cyrille Gassiline
While many designers’ personalities are inseparable from their brand, Cyrille Gassiline prefers to let his collections speak for themselves. Raised in a family of craftspeople (his great-grandfather was a cabinet-maker and his grandmother was a silversmith), Gassiline brings a high level of artistry to each of his designs. His overall concept is one of functional minimalism with each item balancing the conventional with the avant-garde — a compromise that helps with large-scale distribution across Russia. Unlike most labels, which design for the more svelte figure, Gassiline’s clothing goes up to a European size 54 (UK 26, US 22), still a rarity in the fashion world.
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ZDDZ
Despite being London-based, the label ZDDZ has its Russian connection stamped all over it. From the use of loud colours to a fondness for collage-like prints and typography appropriated from posters, adverts and billboards, founder Dasha Selyanova’s irreverent collections appeal to those looking to make a bold statement.
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Turbo Yulia
Yulia Vorobieva's playful designs for Turbo Yulia draw on a variety of sources of inspiration from digital reality to futurism. Using latex, vinyl and other such shiny materials, Vorobieva creates pieces suitable for an interplanetary disco party and has become a favourite among Moscow’s performance artists.
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Nina Donis
Fashion duo Nina Neretina and Donis Pupis studiously avoid convention to create collection after collection that embraces a fusion of styles, anything from Scandinavian knitwear to uniforms. The pioneers of experimental minimalist design in Russia launched their label 14 years ago and are widely considered to be two of the country’s most influential fashion designers.
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Asya Malbershtein
Asya Malbershtein started out making leather bags, backpacks and clutches before embracing the racier side of fashion: bondage-inspired leather accessories. Her suspenders, harnesses and cuffs, though risqué, are designed to be paired with every attire. More recently the St Petersburg-based designer has ventured into the world of tailoring with a collection of minimalist yet edgy dresses, skirts and coats.p>
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Lesia Paramonova
Entering Lesia Paramonova’s world is like stepping onto the pages of a fairy tale. Paramonova starts each collection for her label LES with sketches of curious-looking flora and fauna, which are then transformed into prints for her dresses, skirts and shirts. Despite being a newcomer to the industry, her use of prints, colour and narrative has already won her some dedicated fans, including fashion blogger Susie Bubble.
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Panika Derevya
Panika Derevya’s eponymous label is a one-woman show: she designs and produces her limited edition pieces alone. Derevya is best described as a contemporary minimalist with a love for natural textures such as silk and wool. Her eye-catching designs landed her a prestigious commission — a neon green raincoat — from Moscow’s Strelka Institute this year.
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Gosha Rubchinskiy
A darling of youth culture mavens around the world, Gosha Rubchinskiy is credited with being the first Russian designer to introduce post-Soviet skater fashion outside of Russia. Rubchinskiy’s streetwear-inspired clothing is now produced with the help of London’s Dover Street Market team and stocked in some of the most high-end department stores and boutiques around the world.
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David Koma
Newly-appointed director of Mugler, Georgian-born David Koma grew up in St Petersburg before moving to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins. Before joining the French label, Koma’s work focused on feminine statement dresses for a roster of celebrity clients that included Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Rihanna. His love of strong architectural shapes continues to live on at the French label.
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Tigran Avetisyan
Tigran Avetisyan graduated from London’s Central Saint Martins in 2012 with his final collection attracting the attention of international press and buyers. He currently lives in Moscow where he has launched his own eponymous label. With his use of strong textures and voluminous shapes, his love of bold slogans and punk aesthetic, it’s no overstatement to say that Avetisyan is reinventing contemporary menswear.
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Osome2some
Osemo2some is one of the first in a wave of small independent brands producing good quality, original yet affordable pieces. The duo behind the label, Anna Andrienko and Natalia Buzakova, emphasise expert tailoring and fine fabrics in their reinvention of contemporary, feminine fashion.
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Cap America
Olia Shurigina set up her brand Cap America shortly after graduating from the Industrial Art Institute in Moscow. So far the brand has just produced two collections which showcase Shurigina's extensive abilities to work with digital prints and rich textures to create graphic sculptured silhouettes.
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Walk of Shame
Andrey Artymov’s Walk of Shame is the perfect embodiment of contemporary Moscow glamour complete with its somewhat rougher edge: think champagne-fuelled living, easy money and decadent parties where It-girls mingle with the skater crowd. The label’s silk bomber jackets, floating dresses, fur coats and velvet slippers can be found in stores across Russia as well as in US multi-brand boutique Opening Ceremony.
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Arsenicum
Three years after launching Arsenicum in 2004, Dmitry Loginov was named GQ designer of the year. His use of bold prints, in particular for his highly sought-after silk scarves, and sexy yet minimal designs for both men and women are a favourite among Moscow’s fashion mavens.
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Serguei Teplov
Serguei Teplov launched his eponymous brand in 2005, when the seeds of Russia’s contemporary fashion industry were just being sown — and he is one of the few still in the game. His loose tailoring, use of classic avant-garde shapes and pin-stripes for both men and women have ensured his continued success among Russia’s fashion cognoscenti.
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Asiya Bareeva
In contrast to Moscow’s new wave of fashion minimalists, Asiya Bareeva has a fondness for layers of different prints and fabrics. Her floral headbands, handmade from Japanese clay, are one of her most popular items.
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Yulia Kondrarina
Despite offers from both Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy, Moscow-born Yulia Kondranina decided to set up her own label after graduating from Central Saint Martins. The young designer has a penchant for interesting materials and textures (think fringes, knits and netting) which she uses to create elegant yet irregular silhouettes.
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Fleet Ilya
The husband and wife duo Ilya Fleet and Resha Sharma create bondage-inspired, hand-crafted leather accessories of the highest quality; their harnesses, cinch belts and leather visors are not for the faint-hearted. Fleet trained as a saddle-maker in Russia while Resha Sharma studied fashion design at London’s Central St Martins.
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Forget Me Not
Forget Me Not founder Artur Lomakin was one of the first designers to introduce a minimalist aesthetic to Moscow’s underground fashion scene. His floor-length coats, heavy-knit sweaters and lambskin collars have become part of his signature style, which takes its inspiration from both the harsh landscapes of Northern Russia and the mean streets of the Moscow suburbs.
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Standard Deviation
A collaborative project between Artur Lomakin and Chaos Reigns, Standard Deviation is a leap into fashion avant-garde. The brand combines minimal design, sportswear influences and innovative textiles to captivating and bizarre effect.
