On February 3, Ukrainian fashion designer Fedir Vozianov presented the fall-winter 2017/18 collection of his brand Vozianov. The show dubbed “Viy” and inspired by the same-name novel of Ukrainian-born writer Mykola Gogol took place as part of the Mercedes-Benz Kyiv Fashion Days. A few days earlier Vozianov was named best designer of the season’s edition.
Fedir Vozianov works as fashion designer since 1998. In 2010 Italian edition of Vogue listed Vozianov among the world’s most promising young fashion brands. In 2015 Fedir, who has been drawing inspiration from Kazymyr Malevych’s art for long, presented his “Suprematism 2.0” collection. UCMC gives an insight into the recent Vozianov fashion show.
The brand’s autumn-winter 2017/8 collection draws on the same-name novel of Mykola Gogol. The designer himself calls the collection mysterious and mystical but at the same time says that one should not to be looking for direct references or associations with the novel. “First of all, we wanted to transmit the mood and irony without which it would be hard to imagine Gogol’s work,” says Vozianov. “We were also interested to see the traditional Ukrainian garments of the time and present them in a new way.”
The collection is abundant in quotes, ironic phrases and references to the brand’s previous pieces. For example, laconic black dresses bear phrases “Little black dress” in Ukrainian (Malenka chorna sukonka). Sleeves of another dress say: “First hand” and “Second hand”. Other prints include the name of Gogol and the opening phrase of Ukraine’s national anthem “Ukraine’s (glory) has not yet perished” (Sche ne vmerla Ukrainy). Vozianov makes another reference to the art of Malevych, taking the acclaimed black square as the basis for the silhouette.
“I have been inspired by Malevych for many years,” Vozianov explains. “He made his circle, square and cross already hundred years ago, but his art is very much consonant with contemporary fashion. His works are grounded on the two principles that were used very rarely before. The first one is referring-to-nothing: what he painted reflected nothing, it was neither registering nature nor anything or anyone around. It was registering the art itself. Same processes are now in place in fashion. It just reflects and constantly reproduces itself. The second principle is: Malevych was using symbols as a basic element. And fashion does use signs and symbols,” the designer says.
Big part of Vozianov collection is made up of knitwear. Fedir developed it in cooperation with RITO – a brand that specializes in the field and has been active over 20 years. Vozianov suggests winter headwear that is truly particular – colorful, of big volume, with sintepon padding.
Presentation of the collection was preceded by the performance that had disabled Ukrainian model Oleksandra Kutas in the center. 22-year-old Oleksandra has been moving in a wheelchair her entire life. Kutas originates from Dnipro, where she is also adviser to the city mayor for urban accessibility program.
Vozianov expects that cooperation with the model will draw more public attention to socializing of the disabled in the country. Oleksandra seated on a wooden throne was brought to the catwalk at the beginning. She remained there for the entire time of the show being its integral part.
The article uses materials of: Vogue Ukraine | Hochu.ua | Buro24/7
Photo: Vogue Ukraine
