Interviewed: Katya Kovtunovich, designer and author of her own brand of the same name The photo I posted on Facebook with Alexander Vasiliev after the interview, where he sends greetings to my friends, instantly scored an insane amount of Like, ahead of the popularity of Hollywood stars, famous designers and Formula 1 pilots.
With his intellect, bold sayings, sense of humor and charm, this man has won the hearts of thousands of people from various social groups and generations around the world. Is it any wonder that his lectures on the history of fashion in Dubai, where Alexander came for the second time at the invitation of the French fashion institute ESMOD, again gathered a full house from the most stylish residents and residents of the emirate.
“I am with you!” He began in a voice ringing with vigor, appearing with a tangerine in his hand in the library’s doorway. It was as if there was not a lecture that had just ended at all, where he constantly talked and joked with students for several hours.
Alexander Alexandrovich, the depth and breadth of your knowledge is amazing. How do you manage to keep in your memory entire layers of fashion history and use this information with such ease? Do you somehow train your memory?
I have a good memory. As you can see, I don’t use cheat sheets, I remember all dates, names by heart. I think so: either you know your profession, or not. I am a professional, and I am responsible for my words. And someone may need clues. Sometimes you ask about something, but he will think ... because he does not know the answer and wants to peep it on the Internet.
In general, I trained memory with songs, poems, books. I think this helps a lot. The fact that I speak and teach in different languages also stimulates memory.
You so generously share all kinds of tips, especially with your students about relationships with men, why?
I’m conducting the program “Fashionable Sentence” and for several years I have been watching women with their problems! A huge number of ladies simply do not know men at all and have poor orientation in relations with them.
Do you know what issues concern most women? First, how to get married, and then how to get a divorce. And this is terrible. Because both sexes are often not ready for marriage. They perceive sexual attraction as love, and these two, in their own way strong feelings, have little in common. If your shoulder is stroked, this does not mean that they love you! It is more important to value the inner world of your partner, and not his shell. We must develop ourselves and learn to tell our beloved that he is the smartest, the most, the most, in general, that he is a winner! And in no case can you call him a fool.
Let’s, nevertheless, return to fashion ... As a fashion historian, do you single out some of its periods, do you have a favorite era?
Most of all I like the time of the Renaissance. It seems to me that the 16th century was the most beautiful era.
And when, in your opinion, were women especially beautiful?
They were always artificial and made up. They were never beautiful. And in general, the main quality of a woman is the mind! And men are beauty. Because smart women are very few, like handsome men. Think about it.
If we talk about fashion icons, whose story causes you the most emotions, maybe Chanel, judging by what you said about her at the lecture?
Of course not. I would call my favorites Spanish designer Mariano Fortuny, Paul Poiret and Cristobal Balenciaga. These are truly brilliant and creative personalities.
What exactly attracts you to their work?
Cut, colors, materials, productivity ...
And how then to explain the popularity of Chanel among most mods?
Brand! Her brand is alive. If I were giving a lecture about Elsa Schiaparelli, I would not have gathered a hall. People go to Chanel, because Chanel is written on every corner.
When the founder of the Fashion House passes away and a new designer arrives, it is extremely rare for their new union to be as successful as was the case with Chanel. Maybe it’s better to close the House immediately?
Well, why, if it brings money ?! After all, fashion is a way of making money in a beautiful wrapper.
If people are so attracted to Chanel, can it be her exceptional biography?
I do not think that anyone knows about her true inner qualities. There is a beautiful legend about a noble successful woman who does not correspond to reality.
And what are these true qualities?
To do this, come to my lecture. It lasts two hours, and you want me to tell you everything in two minutes?
In your opinion, is there a chance for modern designers to leave the same mark in history as the great designers of the past?
Maybe. We don’t know anything! If we even knew something about the future, there would not be a single crisis, not a single war, not a single divorce, not a single misfortune, not a single murder and, possibly, not a single wedding! We don’t know anything!
Is there any chance for our contemporaries to create the same pronounced trends in fashion that they used to be from season to season? Now there is such a variety of trends ...
Now the trend is retro. The winter of 2013 is the 50s, 60s, 70s, and the summer of 2013 is the 20th. They invent nothing new, because they are afraid to go forward! Futurism is so terrible! When you see futuristic things, do you really want to walk in at least one of them ?!
And how do you, as an esthete, relate to clothing brands Zara and H&M? After all, these brands have nothing to do with the clothes of those eras that you are talking about.
I often buy clothes in these stores, because I need to constantly change clothes, and if I find the right color, which is required by the laws of the television genre, then I take it. Bright blue, bright yellow, orange - these are all my colors! But clothes for men of these colors are not always sold. My viewers want certain colors, and in the red studio the abundance of red is not welcome. If my goal is to appear in general terms in green trousers, I will not spend a lot of money on them, knowing that I won’t put them on anywhere else.
When we study Christian Dior's products at your lectures, we see that all dresses of past eras were made only of the highest quality fabrics. And now with the fashion there was such a downshift!
Because today we are dominated by mass culture - fast, built on a computer. Nobody wants to work on real relationships, everyone is switching the Internet to quickly-flickering pictures.
This is somehow sad.
This is not sad, this is our life, we ourselves went to this. We really wanted this. There is such an anecdote: a 21st-century novel begins on the VKontakte website, continues on Skype, and ends on the black list. That is, people will never even meet, but they already manage to quarrel. The Internet is a wonderful thing, but it has very disconnected people.
And how much time do you spend on the Internet?
About two hours a day. Usually early in the morning. Odnoklassniki has 99 thousand friends in my group, many of whom I have never seen. I am glad that people write to me. I have a great correspondence. Even more - work correspondence. I have two secretaries, but I can’t entrust them with some things, so I have enough business.
After this phrase, Alexander looked at the phone and said that he should go. Well, we will wait for the arrival of the fashion maestro next year.
