Women in white, denim and leather jackets
The most popular Russian designer presented his collection in Kazan
Kazan has become a host of fashion shows for many times. This time a Moscow star was presented for the Tatarstan audience. Aleksandr Terekhov's collection was shown in Korston's dance hall. His clothes are sold in 78 countries. No Russian couturier has ever achieved such commercial success. How did the young designer manage to promote his brand? Realnoe Vremya tells the details.
Chic boutiques and sequestered life
Aleksandr Terekhov's clothes were presented in one of the Kazan chic boutiques. And its owner said the sales level was quite high. 60-70% of the assortment are sold before sales. Terekhov and his team arrived in Kazan on 15 November at the invitation of a group of luxury boutiques that celebrated its jubilee.
Terekhov has been in Kazan for the second time. He was here first 7 years ago with a fashion show when sales of his clothes in Tatarstan kicked off. A catwalk show in Korston and press conference had been announced this time.
Terekhov visited the press conference at the end, for 5 minutes. His director and PR manager presented the designer. They explained Aleksandr had quite a sequestered life, didn't life secular parties and talked to the media little.
In the Twilight
In general, Terekhov can be called a natural. He was born in 1980 in Vyazniki in Vladimir Oblast. He liked to sew as a kid, sewed clothes for his mum and sisters. As a result, he went to Moscow and entered the Fashion and Design Institute. The creation of a collection titled Twilight that he made on his own in 1999 changed his life. The collection won Russian Silhouette competition, so Terekhov got an opportunity to go to Paris for 4 months for an internship in Yves Saint-Laurent's house of fashion.
Then he went up. In 2004, Terekhov presented his own brand, his collection participated in the Fashion Week in New York. By the way, he is the only Russian couturier who has shown collections in New York many times. In 2007, Terekhov was in the top 10 best young designers in the world. The brand had an investor in 2009.
Angelina Jolie, Celine Dion, Mischa Barton, Renata Litvinova, Svetlana Bondarchuk, Oksana Fyodorva, Ravshana Kurkova, Alsu and others are among the buyers of the brand. Now clothes made by Aleksandr Terekhov are sold in 78 countries. By the way, the dress Polina Gagarina had on in Eurovision was also made by Aleksandr Terekhov. He explained that he made it up very quickly just after talking to the singer.
The brand's ideology is an orientation to womanliness. This is why a womanly dress is the gimmick of Terekhov's collections. A sexy, womanly and merry woman is his muse. The size range is quite tolerant towards Russian women – from 36 to Russian 52. An excellent fit of his clothes is one of the distinctive features from Terekhov. The dominance of natural cloth is another advantage.
Very Aleksandr Terekhov appeared at the end of the press conference – he was a high, skinny, shy young man who answered few questions with a calm voice. In answer to the question about the fashionable must-have of this winter, Terekhov replied: ''A dress.'' And he explained that the most important thing is to have somebody to put this dress on and go out with. So Terekhov made a hint to the famous joke that a man is a woman's best accessory.
The designer reminded that people should separate style from fashion, so he led to Coco Chanel's accurate phrase: ''Fashion may go out of style, but style never goes out of fashion''. As for this season's trend, Terekhov noted that now people could wear anything. Most importantly, a person's appearance should coincide with his inner world.
Let's start with white
The collection that Aleksandr Terekhov brought to Kazan consisted of 45 looks. It started with white, then milky and creamy, ecru, milk chocolate and ended with black. But there was golden and silver. The clothes from this series could be taken from the hangers and immediately tried on, as it should be in a prêt-à-porter collection.
The cloth was mainly natural – silk, denim, leather jackets, opalescent coats from creative Japanese fabric. In general, coats dominated in the collection – from traditional to quite extravagant trenches. There were silver and golden evening dresses that fitted the body closely. Men's clothes were also laconic and functional. It was obvious that all clothes had a perfect cut and perfect fit.
In general, Aleksandr Terekhov can be called a conformist in a good sense of the word. Like it was said in an old Soviet cartoon, he found the golden ratio: there are two principles – to guess and please. He guesses the audience's need for well-sewed, comfortable and functional clothes and pleased by providing consumers with an excellent quality. It all favours a good sales level. This step is not new in the world of fashion. For instance, Swedish COS brand that is becoming more and more popular and is between the mass market and chic brands if we're speaking about its price, develops in the same way – natural cloth, laconic and perfect cut, creation of collections of basic things. The popularity of this Swedish brand among the consumers who have already refused the mass market but can't afford an expensive thing around the world is crazy.
Aleksandr Terekhov's clothes are luxurious. And despite the laconism, it is seen with the naked eye. The elegance of even simple clothes is amazing. His goal is to reveal a woman, stress her individuality, not demonstrating his own creativity. ''I can't afford myself to make a mistake,'' Aleksandr Terekhov says. It is seen that he doesn't make mistakes yet.