A La Russe Spring 2013
Russian fashion season would not be complete without the much awaited show by A La Russe whose feminine and elegant clothes have been receiving rave reviews in the past few seasons. In line with the brand’s aesthetic, Anastasia Romantsova once again designed a collection that serves both as a reminder of the bygone romanticised era in Russia and as a selection of desirable and modern pieces true to the preserved heritage of the country.
The spring-summer collection explores the idea of a young city girl coming to the Russian countryside and embracing the natural order of rural life, so unlike the one she is used to. Inspired by the designer’s childhood spent in the south of Russia, in Krasnodar, this collection is, in a way, a light-hearted dialogue between two settings, two lifestyles, two ways of dressing up. The initial differences between the city girl and her countryside counterpart fade away, replaced by a sophisticated, and yet liberated beauty whose clothes reflect her state of being. This fusion of seemingly polar opposites can clearly be traced in a parade of light summery white dresses which opened the show, followed swiftly by an equally impressive range of more elaborate colourful pieces, reminiscent of delicate refined creations of the city setting.
This image of Russian summertime, already present in the silhouettes of floor length dresses, wide skirts and traditional shirt dresses, all in colours of meadow flowers, is further reinforced by a fitting accessorising of the looks. Traditional Russian scarves, straw bags, carved wooden hairbands all serve to create an air of natural femininity and sensuality that the city girl comes to embrace, as is also evident from the models’ natural hair and make up used for the show. Holding bouquets of meadow flowers and grains – symbols of success, prosperity and life – the girls truly embody the triumph of the natural entity in a summertime journey of a city dweller.
Perhaps, what makes this collection especially interesting is the reworking of the fabrics which is so easy to overlook at first glance. Upon closer inspection, the deceptively simple materials reveal the true extent of work that has gone into their creation: white cotton dresses have barely visible embroidery; floral prints are actually made of sewed-in lace. The attention to detail, combined with a tangible charm of the clothes as a whole, results in an alluring collection which simply cannot go unnoticed by those, for whom Russian countryside remains a source of nostalgic dreaming and invaluable memories.
Pictures courtesy of alarusse.ru
Evgenia Dorofeeva is a photographer, fashion writer and an avid traveller based in London. Her love of fashion comes from childhood spent in a grandmother’s atelier, while writing is a hobby that is bound to become a full-time occupation. Evgenia’s dream is to create a worthy home collection of evening dresses – story-tellers, performers and fairy godmothers in their own right.
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Lucy
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Marguerite
