The beginning of July in the Northern capital was decorated with the defile of the project «The best graduation collections/ Graduate fashion — 2023», which took place in the RASKROI experimental space at Kazanskaya, 25. It was here that fashion designers, artists, figures of the domestic fashion industry gathered to determine the best young authors of fashion projects who presented their graduation collections in their native universities the day before. The organizer of the competition is traditionally the St. Petersburg Union of Designers with the support of the Government of St. Petersburg.
The jury of the competition included eminent figures of the fashion industry, including Irina Selyuta, director of the Lilia Kisselenko fashion house, Konstantin Lukin, founder of St. Petersburg Fashion Week, Vladimir Bukhinnik, fashion expert and columnist of the St. Petersburg TV channel, producer of the British Fashion Days and Elle Fashion Days projects, Nadezhda, co-owner of the New Couture Paris showroom Kozhevnikova, Creative Director of the Costume Design Institute of Ƶ, Head of the Costume Design Department, Professor Irina Safronova, founder and designer of the fashion house KOGEL Asya Kogel.
In the «Collection» nomination, the winner and the owner of the first place was Evgenia Semerok, scientific supervisor — Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ Lyubov Dzhikiya. The designer has created modern bright images-interpretations of traditional Russian costume. The source of inspiration for her was Russian folklore, painting and history, as well as a photograph of a costume ball preserved since 1903. «The cultural code of Russia is an important component of my works. Folklore and fairy-tale motifs are «played out» in this collection», - shares Evgenia.
Students of the Costume Design Institute were out of competition in the «Stage Costume» nomination: 1st place — Bi Yuqing, scientific supervisor — Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ Lyubov Dzhikiya. The source of inspiration for the designer was the work of Elsa Schiaparelli and her avant-garde view of fashion. Yuqing used a combination of black and gold finishes, applied embroidery with beads and glass beads. The choice of fabrics includes satin, chiffon and velvet.
The second place was taken by Anna Manokha, scientific supervisor - Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The third place was taken by Elizaveta Kondrashova, scientific supervisor — Svetlana Kuznetsova, Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ. The collection is inspired by digital fashion, anime culture, space fiction and reinterpreted natural forms. This is a kind of reflection on the flora and fauna of other worlds. The collection exists in the context of a kind of fantasy world of the future, where rivers can be pink and stringy, the earth is lilac, and models are aliens from different galaxies. Most of the collection consists of products with insulation and lining, mainly raincoat and cotton fabrics are used.
In the «Video» nomination, the entire podium of the winners was also given to the students of Ƶ. First place — Evgenia Semerok, scientific supervisor — Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ Lyubov Dzhikiya. The second place was taken by Polina Ozhiganova, scientific supervisor - Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ Elena Petrova. Third place — Liu Chenglong, scientific supervisor - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Professor of the Costume Design Department of Ƶ.
Artem Brezhnev (1st place), Polina Ozhiganova (2nd place), Taisiya Varlamova (3rd place) they became the absolute winners in the «Portfolio» nomination. All the works were carried out under the supervision of Associate Professor of Costume Design Department of Ƶ Alyona Shishanova.
The winners of the TOP 25 project «The Best graduation collections/ Graduate fashion - 2023» were Alina Berezina, Alice Shurmanova, Ekaterina Korobkina, Artem Brezhnev, Polina Ozhiganova, Taisiya Varlamova, Ekaterina Brazhnik, Anna Ivanova, Polina Polyakova, Ekaterina Filatieva, Lyubov Uvarova, Alice Matveychuk, Polina Lopatnikova, Violetta Simutkina-Vyazhanskaya. The founder of Fashion Week Konstantin Lukin presented a certificate for participation in the St. Petersburg spring-summer 2024 fashion show to Evgenia Semerok.
Polina Polyakova received a diploma for participation in the final of the Admiralty Needle 2024 competition from the artistic director of one of the flagship projects of the Ƶ international festival of Art, fashion and design «Admiralty Needle». The inspiration for the creation of her collection was a psychological thriller called «Black Swan» directed by Darren Aronofsky, which was released in 2010, as well as elements of the Gothic style. To implement the concept of the collection, the author selected form-resistant, easily draped materials: taffeta, costume fabrics, dense corset mesh.
The General Director of the Sesame Fabric Printing factory presented certificates for printing on fabric to Ekaterina Filatieva. Taisiya Varlamova has been invited to an internship at TOTO Company. Alina Berezina, Alisa Shurmanova, Polina Gavrikova, Ekaterina Korobkina were invited to join the St. Petersburg Union of Designers by Creative Director Polina Slutskaya.
Photographer Alexander Trofimov.