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“Let’s start by saying that one of the prints is a famous photo of the 1993 Putsch [coup] in Moscow,” explains designer Olga Vasyukova when we sit down to discuss her brand Red September and the upcoming FW22 collection. “The general inspiration of the brand and the collections is always the [Soviet Union’s reconstructive] period of Perestroika. [It’s] nostalgic for me. I was still a child, but this period was so vivid and imprinted so many strong and authentic memories that were a mix of soviet past and future.”
For FW22 specifically, Vasyukova says she was “carried away by the atmosphere of Brat and Brat 2 by Aleksei Balabanov (1997/2000). Brat (or Brother) and its sequel are iconic movies for the post-soviet generation, for my generation — like Trainspotting was for England, Brother was the same for ’90s Russian people. Serving as a period piece of post-Perestroika malaise, Balabanov, by his own admission, ‘wanted to make a movie about musicians and gangsters, since that was who my friends were.’ I felt that feeling and I strongly wanted to incorporate it in the collection, in a personal way.”
Red September’s aesthetic (which Vasyukova describes as a “clash of epochs: soviet constructivism with Perestroika’s underground rebels”) owes as much to the designer’s political and cultural reflections as it does to her own specific background. “I [grew] up under my parents’ eye, not political theory. At that time, it was difficult to buy things, shops were empty and if [a product] appeared, we would stand in line for hours. Everyone knew each other. Few people could go abroad. Many things that were my normal daily routine may sound strange now. I am grateful for my childhood with all the difficulties and positive moments that formed my character.”
Perhaps most unexpected is the fact that before studying fashion design in Florence, Vasyukova studied railway engineering in Moscow, which explains why her tailored clothing is so complex. “I like a constructed garment,” she explains, “altered and distorted patterns; [the] signature Red September tetra-pack shoulder, the particular stitching. It is a joy for me to play with patterns and find unexpected ways a simple pattern can be reimagined into a sophisticated design. I love the contrasts. I love to play with Russian culture and history, modeling the references to change the past into something strongly contemporary.”
As with all of Red September’s collections, FW22 is evergreen, building on previous offerings and, of course, including the patchwork printed knitted cardigans the brand has become renowned for. Elsewhere, Vasyukova shares that she’s working on “a line of sterling silver accessories, in collaboration with our friendly sister-brand, [which] will be released in time for PITTI Uomo.”