Russia's velvet revolution
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New wave of designers
aim to shed reputation
for dowdy duds
By Yulia Kudryavtseva
The Moscow Times
MOSCOW, Russia -- At the close of the Soviet era the Russian fashion industry consisted, so far as anyone could see, of two men: Vyacheslav Zaitsev and Valentin Yudashkin. Their visibility allowed the government spin machine to proclaim that Russia had top-notch couturiers, just like the West.
"It's clear that at that time fashion shows were conducted exclusively in order to prove that Russia had fashion, too," said Nina Neretina of Voronezh, who teams with Cypriot Donis Pupis in the successful young design duo Nina&Donis.
"Hardly anyone could have guessed back then that fashion shows in the rest of the world were aimed at attracting buyers. The mere fact that Zaitsev and Yudashkin existed was more of a political statement than anything else," she said.
Zaitsev and Yudashkin remain the kings of the Russian fashion world. But during the past decade a new generation of designers has emerged, better known to fashion watchers abroad perhaps than to shoppers in Moscow boutiques. Russia's sartorial scene is changing, but the pace is slow.
The main engines of change since the early 1990s have been fashion competitions such as Albo Moda, which was organized by the modeling agency Face Fashion, and the Russian qualifying stage for the international Smirnoff Fashion Awards. These events not only allow young talented designers to show off their potential but also reward them in cash and contacts.
Beginning designer Yelena Zarubina of Moscow, for example, won the Russian regional round of the 1998 Smirnoff Fashion Awards, then moved on to the finals in Berlin, Germany. She took first place.
"I was given a scholarship to study at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London," Zarubina said. "I could never have afforded such an education on my own. The tuition alone was well beyond my means."
Back in Moscow with solid professional training and a million ideas, Zarubina once more ran into the old problem of money: She couldn't scrape together enough to put together a new collection.
"And that wasn't the only problem," Zarubina said. "Not by a long shot. It's almost impossible to find interesting fabrics in Moscow. They just don't exist. It's no secret that Russian designers prefer to buy their fabrics in Italy and France."
Almost all young designers here run into the problem of financing their first collections. Russian entrepreneurs won't take the risk of backing young talent because they want to see an immediate return on their investments.
But in the unstable economic climate that has plagued Russia throughout the last decade, it's nearly impossible to make a quick ruble in the fashion business. As a result, the only realistic way for young designers to find start-up capital is to win fashion competitions.
Neretina and Pupis, for instance, were crowned audience favorites at the Russian Smirnoff competition in 1996 and came away with a sewing machine, which they use to this day.
"That year was particularly good to us," Pupis said. "At about the same time, we won the Albo Moda contest, which carried a $7,000 prize. With that money and our new machine, we finally had what we needed to produce a new collection."
Other Russian contest winners have received the chance to work in some of the world's leading fashion houses. Katya Leonovich of Moscow, who won a contest for young designers in Milan, Italy, in 1998, was subsequently given an internship at the Gattinoni fashion house.
"The internship in such a prestigious house was the best prize of all," Leonovich said. "When I finished, they offered me a permanent job on their creative staff. But I preferred to continue on my own."
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Despite their success abroad, Russia's young designers have begun to "take it to the next level" at home only in the last few years. Now their shows are frequented not only by friends and devotees but also by fashion buyers.
After taking part in the London Fashion Week last year, Nina&Donis sold their line of jeans to boutiques in London and New York. At the same event the duo was invited to take part in the prestigious International Festival of Fashion Arts at Hyeres, France. They accepted, and they're glad they did. In May, Nina&Donis won the young designers' competition in Hyeres.
"After all that, we got the feeling that Europe was expecting something new from Russia," Pupis said. "First there was a wave of Japanese designers. Then came the Belgians. Now the fashion world is experiencing a minor crisis. Everyone's running in place, waiting to see who's next. For some reason, many people hope that the new wave will come from Russia."
But experts say such hopes are premature because Russia has yet to develop a strong fashion culture after nearly eight decades of drab Soviet clothing. Russian fashion fiends still see the clothes produced by native designers as more of a curiosity than a sartorial necessity.
For the most part, Russian shoppers still go for well-established foreign brands. And while many boutiques in Moscow and St. Petersburg now stock clothes from the collections of Russian designers, these make up just a small fraction of their total merchandise.
On the one hand, Russian designers have it pretty tough. They face both cumbersome inspection procedures for clothes sold in Russia and the constant hunt for financial backing in an emerging fashion market.
On the other hand, however, they may have it a little too easy. For as yet, Russian designers have not had to compete head-to-head for market share.
"We all know one another, and we get along well," Neretina said. "In our hearts, we're ready to compete with foreign designers but not with one another. I think it's still too soon for that."
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