Project Description

The first fashion show took place in Tsarskoye Selo Museum in 2009. Since then, St. Petersburg designers annually launch Haute Couture collections on the instructions of the Museum. Theme of the collection is different each time, but every time the atmosphere and history of Tsarskoye Selo remain a source of inspiration.

Theme of this year’s show is “Chinese caprice”. The choice of theme is not accidental — Chinese (or Sinicism) style was used for the interiors of Tsarskoye selo since the 18th century. During the reign of Catherine the Great a complex of buildings in Chinese style was created: Chinese Theatre, Chinese village, Chinese bridges and other constructions.
For the first time the show will be held in the Alexander Park. Fashion show director is Igor Konyaev, a theatre director.

We were brought to the beautiful ruinate pavilion of Chinese theater, with a frontispiece covered with massive birches and larches. Probably some tender little bird brought a pinecone in a nib and put it into a split in bricks – and here is the result. Near the splashed wall with traces of ancient grace high platforms were built, stylishly decorated with black plastic, sparkling as a black Chinese lacquer.
To the sound of man’s music drums and squeaky Chinese-like flutes macho boys in shorts and checked shirts run up the platform. They looked like trendy bikers and joined the bovver under the influence of testosterone overflow. Suddenly magnificent opera music started to sound full force, the boys fell one after the other, gorgeous bearded guy, who would transfer into Ilya Muromets with age, fell last.

Later the boys started to wake and carry Russo-Chinese figures stencil plates around the catwalk, placing their faces into the stencils. It ended up with two maids, beautiful like pearls, whom they got out of two black garbage bags. One of the maids was dressed in a red dress and the other – in black. The boys helped them go downstairs from the catwalk to people showing their great respect to beauty, grace and fragility. It was Chinese Idol, a complicated show by Elena Badmaeva.