FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda

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FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
FASHION
2018

       BY FASHION & DESIGN CHAMBER OF ARMENIA

                  ARMENIAN
                    FASHION
                HIGHLIGHTS
                                  30+ amazing
                                fashion events
                                     from FDC
FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
CONTENTS
                    FAS H I O N & D E S I G N C H A M B E R Y EA R I N R E V I E W - I S S U E 01 / 1 8

         4             WELCOME LETTERS

         8             FASHION AND DESIGN CHAMBER LAUNCHING EVENT

         10            ARMENIAN FASHION REBORN

         12            ARMENIAN DESIGNERS’ PRESENTATION AT MBFD KIEV

         16            OFFSPRINGS OF NOAH

         20            YEREVAN FASHION FORUM 2018 HIGHLIGHTS

         26            TREND FORECASTING with Gwyneth Holland

         27            FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY with Maksim & Anastasia Hetman

         28            NOT A F*CKING STREET STYLE PHOTOGRAPHER IN EVN

2   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
PREMIER VISION PARIS TRADE SHOW                                                 30

masterclass & interview with Aline Kaljian   THE ART OF PLEATING                                33

                                                MOSCOW CALLING                                 38

                                   POPUP STORE IN MOSCOW                                       39

                                               PITTI SUPER 12 & 13                             40

                  FASHION COLLECTION FROM A TO Z                                               44

                            FASHION SKILLSET UPGRADED                                          48

                                             UPCYCLED WITH LOVE                                54

                                             INSPIRED BY EU FLAG                                55

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FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
President’s Letter

                                                            I
                                                               t was an icebreaking year for Armenian fashion
                                                               industry. We managed to put the country on a
                                                               world fashion map by organising international
                                                            fashion event and having world top experts here
                                                            in Armenia. Previously designers needed to put
                                                            enormous effort, money and resources to be seen
                                                            and heard abroad, while with the help of FDC
                                                            we broke those barriers and showcased several
                                                            Armenian designers abroad.

                                                            We shifted local designers from competition to
                                                            cooperation and united they started competing
                                                            at a higher level of professionalism. That became
                                                            possible thanks to uniting our expertise in
                                                            fashion, networks, international cooperation and,
                                                            certainly, funding from donors. We still have a
                                                            long way to go, but I believe that together we
                                                            can achieve more. This year all fashion community
                                                            finally saw and believed in the true power and
                                                            potential it has.

                                                            Vahan Khachatryan
                                                            President, Fashion & Design Chamber of Armenia

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FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
Co-Founder’s Letter

F
     or me establishment of Fashion and Design
     Chamber as a sector support body was to
     assess the existing skills, to find appropriate
ways of capturing and reflecting on different new,
innovative, evidence-based learning techniques
and based on that help designers understand
how they are progressing.

“I believed it was possible, I saw opportunities, I
took risks, I felt overwhelming love, I embraced my
wonders and curiosity, I contributed to something
bigger, I created, I did” – this was my road-map
towards creation of FDC.

This one year project was an amazing experience
for the first time to unite and work with so many
Armenia designers. I’m very happy to know that
it caused big interest and impact for the future
development of Armenian fashion industry.

Elen Manukyan
Co-Founder, Fashion & Design Chamber of Armenia

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Partner’s Letter

                                                            T
                                                                   he Fashion & Design Chamber of Armenia
                                                                   (FDC) was founded in February 2018 with initial
                                                                   support from EU-SMEDA - an EU co-funded
                                                            project on strengthening small and medium sized
                                                            enterprises in Armenia. And FDC truly left its mark,
                                                            becoming one of EU-SMEDA’s most dynamic, most
                                                            inspiring and most dedicated partners in the realm of
                                                            the Cultural & Creative Industries (CCI) in Armenia.
                                                            Indeed, ranging from advertising, music, gaming,
                                                            movies/TV, to the performing arts and fashion, CCI
                                                            daily touches on everyone’s lives while being one of
                                                            the most dynamically growing industries, creating
                                                            income and employment for millions of people
                                                            worldwide. And with its many creative, innovative,
                                                            and bright minds, EU-SMEDA sees a significant
                                                            potential for Armenia, too. Indeed, EU-SMEDA aims
                                                            to enable the sector to become a notable source of
                                                            income and employment for many, while adding
                                                            some spark to Armenia’s economy along the way. As
                                                            a young business association, the FDC truly lives up
                                                            to its mission, offering just the perfect mix of support
                                                            for the sector, with exclusive high-level trainings,
                                                            networking on a national and international scale, and
                                                            much needed lobbying power for the sector.
                                                            At EU-SEMDA, we are very happy that we were
                                                            able to support FDC in its infant stages through our
                                                            EU4Business initiative. Personally, I much compliment
                                                            all of FDC’s dedicated members and its determined
                                                            management on your achievements for making
                                                            the FDC such a striving and impactful organisation
                                                            in such a short period of time. And I forward my
                                                            sincere gratitude and my best wishes for a bright
                                                            and successful future: let’s make the association even
                                                            stronger! May the sector of fashion design in Armenia
                                                            prosper! Let’s make the creative potential in Armenia
                                                            shine!’

                                                            Eva Naeher,
                                                            Team leader Support to SME Development in Armenia (SMEDA)

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Partner’s Letter

W
           e have always believed that the Creative
           Industries sector has a huge potential in
           Armenia, that is why together with the
Armenian Chamber of Fashion and Design we
initiated this project.
The sector needs a driving force that will
industrialize it and will integrate it to the existing
business ecosystem. That is our vision and the
first step was to help the Fashion Designers to
institutionalize their initiatives and establish a
fashion business which was our main task and I
think we succeeded through our trainings, formal
and informal meetings with the designers.
We hope to share this vision through other
Creative Industries sectors and make it one
of the most successful areas for business and
investments in Armenia.
So, this is just the beginning and only a small part
of a bigger puzzle. The youth in Armenia is very
creative, let’s industrialize it!

Gevorg Poghosyan,
Co-founder of Business Club for Impact NGO

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FASHION & DESIGN CHAMBER
      LAUNCH                               February 24, 2018
                                           Yerevan, Armenia

      N
             either cold weather, nor
             winter prevented over
             100 representatives of
      Armenian fashion and design
      industry to attend a one-of-a-
      kind event, held in the heart of
      modern Armenian education,
      AUA.
      It was Armenian Fashion &
      Design Chamber, that gathered
      all media and fashion experts
      on this very day. The launch-
      ing event was an important
      milestone in communicating
      Chamber’s vision, goals and key
      messages to all creative com-
      munity of Yerevan.
      “Any industry needs to be sys-              wall of ignorance, and find our     gather support and encourage-
      temised. You can have lots of               niche in the world fashion. In      ment from the community, thus
      talented and gifted profession-             the frames of the newly formed      reassuring the importance of
      als, but without an organised               chamber we already have lots        coordinated forces in the fash-
      system and a vision it won’t                of interesting ideas and projects   ion industry of Armenia.
      have significant results. It’s not          that need to be realised in the
      an Armenian invention, such                 near future”, said designer Sona
      organizations are common in                 Hakobyan.
      the world and all we do is follow
                                                                       YOU CAN HAVE LOTS OF TALENTED
      global experience.”, said fashion           Overall 118 peo-
      designer Aram Nikolyan.                     ple participated      AND GIFTED PROFESSIONALS, BUT
                                                  at the event,
      We talked about challenges                                        WITHOUT AN ORGANISED SYSTEM
                                                  including sector
      and opportunities of fashion
                                                  representatives,         AND A VISION IT WON’T HAVE
      and design sector, opening
                                                  journalists, ex-
      room for discussion on devel-                                                SIGNIFICANT RESULTS
                                                  perts, guests.
      opment of Armenian fashion.
                                                  We were able to            - Aram Nikolyan, Fashion designer
      “United we must break that

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FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
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FASHION ARMENIAN FASHION HIGHLIGHTS - 30+ amazing fashion events from FDC - smeda
ARMENIAN
      FASHION
      REBORN
      U
             ntil recently not a single organization
             in Armenia would take care of and                      I CAN SURELY STATE THAT IN
             enforce development of Armenian
                                                                 PREVIOUS 10 YEARS WE HAD NOT
      fashion industry.
      However, there are lots of talented designers
                                                                  THAT MUCH DEVELOPMENTS IN
      and fashion brands, which work on their own,               ARMENIAN FASHION INDUSTRY AS
      facing challenges and growing to achieve high
                                                                        WE ACHIEVED LAST YEAR
      standards of international fashion industry.
      All those designers needed to join efforts and
                                                                           Vahan Khachatryan, FDC President
      have a unifying organization to support their
      needs and challenges, as well as represent
      them in relations with suppliers, government
      and other partners within Armenia and abroad.           FDC organised over 20 events and more than 15
                                                              courses for designers in Armenia and beyond.
      In order to address all these issues and drive
      Armenian fashion industry forward, Fashion              Another achievement by FDC was establishing
      and Design Chamber of Armenia (FDC) was                 a bridge between designers and textile produc-
      established in 2017 with the mission to support         ers. Previously textile factories refused to service
      Armenian fashion industry.                              orders of small quantities, but now, thanks
                                                              to increased demand and unified orders of
      Main objective of FDC was to create a joint
                                                              designers, textile factories willingly and actively
      platform for creative industry, specifically
                                                              collaborate with fashion designers.
      fashion and design cluster that will
      contribute to the development and enhance
      competitiveness of the sector. FDC unites
      individual designers and brands, startups and
      operation entrepreneurs from fashion and
      related sectors in Armenia.
      FDC united more than 50 both renowned and
      young Armenian designers. During the first year

10   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
IN 2018 FDC UNITED MORE THAN 50 BOTH
RENOWNED AND YOUNG ARMENIAN
DESIGNERS, ORGANISED MORE THAN 20
EVENTS AND 15 COURSES FOR DESIGNERS
IN ARMENIA AND BEYOND

                      Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   11
ARMENIAN DESIGNERS
      PRESENTATION AT MBKFD

      E
            ach autumn Kyiv was                       • Ky i v Fa s h i o n I n d u st r y   in order to have the majority
            hosting “Mercedes-                          Forum — a business con-              of international press, so they
            Benz Fashion Days Kiev”                     ference dedicated to the             would have possibility to find
      (MBKFD) — the international                       development of fashion               out new stars from Eastern
      fashion week aiming at the                        industry.                            Europe.
      global promotion of a new
                                                    Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion               For the first time 11 Armenian
      generation of East European
                                                    Days welcomed renowned                   designers and fashion brands
      brands.
                                                                                                     participated in MBKFD
      Taking advantage of                                                                            with their latest
      growing recognition                                                                            collections.
                                               WE PRESENTED A WHOLE
      a b ro a d d u r i n g t h e
                                                                                                      Invited guests included
      years of its existence,              SPECTRUM OF ARMENIAN FASHION
                                                                                                      fashion experts,
      MBKFD significantly
                                            AND GAINED ATTENTION WITHIN                               international press,
      expanded its program,
                                                                                                      fashion celebrities,
      which included:                         BUYERS, JOURNALISTS AND
                                                                                                      bloggers, influencers
        • Fa s h i o n S c o u t                   PROFESSIONALS                                      and media. Among
          Kiev — a launching                                                                          others: Ambassador
          pad for beginning                                                                           of the Republic of
          brands,                                   experts to share their rich              Armenia to Ukraine, H.E. Mr.
                                                    experience with the growing              A n dra n i k Ma n ou k i a n a n d
        • Fashion Days Market —
                                                    number of professionals in the           representatives of Armenian
          a platform for brands of
                                                    local industry. This time MBKFD          diaspora welcomed this
          clothes, shoes, accessories
                                                    intentionally moved their show           initiative and encouraged the
          and decorations, design and
                                                    for the beginning of the season          promotion of Armenian fashion
          decoration items, and

12   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
abroad.
                                industry and it really gained       fashion and its rising stars. The
‘Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days     attention of buyers, journalists    initiative was aimed at raising
Kiev was the first time we      and professionals”, shared her      the country’s reputation and
were there altogether. It was   impressions Armenian Fashion        competitiveness in design and
an interesting format, where    Designer Sona Hakobyan              fashion industry, create new
we presented a whole spec-                                          opportunities for business con-
                                During cocktail-presentation in
trum of Armenian fashion                                            tacts, provide networking links
                                JUST IN SPACE, popular Fashion
                                                                    to other similar international
                                & PR space in Kyiv, Armenian
                                                                    projects in future, as well as
                                designers presented their col-
                                                                    promote Armenian fashion and
                                lections, talked about Armenian
                                                                    business environment.

                                                          Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN CHA M BER   13
ARMENIAN DESIGNERS AT MBFDK’18
          Vahan Khachatryan/Biayni              Margarita Sirekanyan/Naghash
        Aram Nikolyan/Nikolyan atelier        Alla Pavlova/Z.G.EST
      Inga Manukyan/LOOM Weaving             Ruzanna Vardanyan/RUZANĒ
    Sona Hakobyan/SONČESS                  Mary Sukiasyan/Shabeeg
 Nelly Serobyan/ Nelly Serobyan           Seda Manukyan/Atex Fashion Center
Ani Mkrtchyan/Petoor

     14   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
Photographer: Maxim Getman
Models: Anastasiia Panchenko (K Models),
Katrin Stratford (MZM Models)
MUA: Olya Mirnaya

                                           Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN CHA M BER   15
O

      O
              n the third day of                   On July 2, 2018 all lights of            I RECEIVED LOTS OF
              preparations, Lucine                 the Aram Khachatur yan’s
                                                                                          ANGRY LETTERS FROM
              Ayanyan, stylist and                 h o u s e - m u s e u m w e re o n .
      fahion expert form Switzerland               O F F S P R I N G S O F N OA H         REJECTED DESIGNERS,
      and fashion designer Vahan                   showcased best pieces from
                                                                                              INQUIRING ABOUT
      Khachatryan were tired to                    Armenian designers. 90 outfits
      death, setting, styling and                  of 50 designers from Armenia            SELECTION CRITERIA.
      reorganizing fashion outfits.                and diasporas in Germany,
                                                                                          HOWEVER WHEN THEY
      Shooting of 90 mannequins                    France, Syria, Ukraine, Russia,
      and outfits undergo.                         the US, Lebanon and Iran.               CAME TO EXHIBITION,
      Preparing the first ever Fashion             All the collections were the            EVERYTHING BECAME
      exhibition in Armenia was                    vivid reflection of their works
                                                                                                        CLEAR
      tough, but worth every minute                expressing fashion through the
      of it. They say, the darkest                 diversity of styles – from ethnic
                                                                                                     - Lucine Ayanian,
      hour is that before the dawn.                to casual and from evening to
      “Offsprings of Noah” became a                architectural.                            Stylist & Fashion Expert
      real dawn for Yerevan Fashion
                                                   Style groups were assigned
      Forum 2018 and spotting
                                                   to the venue halls – white
      Armenian designers on world
                                                   haute-couture theme, casual,
      fashion map.
                                                   architectural, ethnic ets.

16   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
OFFSPRINGS OF
        NOAH
                                                           Gems of Armenian Fashion

 H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski,         invited guests and designers,         of Noah’s Ark on the snow-
 Ambassador of the European               putting fashion designers with        c a p p e d M o u n t A ra ra t , a
 U n i o n D e l e g a t i o n to t h e   20 years of experience and            national symbol of Armenia.
 Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr.            newbies, who lack their own           Yet another great metaphor to
 Matthias Kiesler, Ambassador             concept and even quality cuts,        unite Armenian designers from
 of Germany to the Republic               would be very unethical. We           all over the world.
 of Armenia, and Lilit Makunts            immediately “wiped off” most
 Minister of Culture of RA                of them. I received lots of angry
 attended the opening ceremony            letters from those designers,
 with opening remarks.                    inquiring about selec tion
                                          criteria. However when they
 In preceding months Lucine was
                                          came to exhibition, everything
 busy selecting best artworks
                                          became clear”.
 from hundreds of applications.
                                          In addition, the exhibition
 “Vahan was working with top
                                          showed several works from
 designers, like Jabotian, etc.,
                                          TUMO students, thus making
 while I focused on amateurs”,
                                          room for the young ones to
 says Lucine Ayanyan, “Actually
                                          share their talent and aptitude.
 the level of submissions was
 quite low. Taking into account           “Offsprings of Noah” refers
 scale of the exhibition and              to the mythical resting place

                                                                     Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   17
18   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN CHA M BER   19
FASHION FORUM
      YEREVAN 2018
      In June, Yerevan finally was                 individuals may attend the
                                                                     at Westminster University,
      spotted on the world fash-                   workshops organised in the
                                                                     UK), Andrea Bruno (strategic
      ion map by FASHION FORUM                     frame of the forum to gain
                                                                     director of textile and fashion
      YEREVAN, the first inter-                    knowledge, experience and
                                                                     department at Istituto d’Arte
      national fashion event ever                  network from fashion experts
                                                                     Applicata e Design Torino,
      organised in Armenia.                        during power-talks. The
                                                                     Italy), Camille Boyer & Marlene
                                                   guest-speakers also ran small
                                                                     Agrieter (Austrian Fashion
      Th e F D C b ro u g h t
                                                                               Association, Austria),
      together Armenian
                                                                               Katya Gousset
      designers’ community
                                 THE FASHION INDUSTRY SHOULD BE                (Instagram influencer,
      and foreign profes-
                                 ON THE PALM OF YOUR HAND WITH                 fashion blogger, styl-
      sionals to give talks
                                   ALL ITS NEW APPOINTMENTS AND                ist), Anton Yeremenko
      around a variety of
                                             BUSINESS DEALS                    ( fa s h i on edi tor at
      topics.
                                             − Anton Yeremenko,                Harper ’s Bazaar,
      For three days TUMO                   Harper’s Bazaar Ukraine            U kra i n e ), M a x i m
      Center for Creative                                                      Getman (fashion pho-
      Technologies gath-                                                       tographer, Ukraine),
                                        workshops giving attendees
      ered over 250 guests, including                                Lucine Ayanian (founder of
                                        more practical advices.
      designers, students, journalists                               HAY-HAY.CO, marketing expert,
      and all interested individuals The list of speakers featured stylist, Switzerland), Xenya
      to learn about fashion from Adam Katz Sinding (famous Cherny (Eco-Age Ambassador,
      world-renowned experts.           street fashion photographer, founder of Green Stilettos).,
                                        USA), Gwyneth Holland (trend Anastasia Hetman (model,
      The Forum was open for
                                        consultant, writer, lecturer KModel Agency Ukraine). Read
      public so that interested

20   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
further for more details on           Anton elaborated on success          and editorials for Vogue, Elle,
some of the speeches.                 factors in fashion journalism,       Harpers Bazaar, etc.
                                      indicating that at all times
                                                                           Meanwhile Adam’s favourite
BRANDS & MEDIA                        hard-work and persistence are
                                                                           photography direction is street
                                      important, as well as having
IN FASHION                            deeper understanding of the
                                                                           style, as according to him, it’s
                                                                           more real than fashion week
                                      fashion industry. “You have to
Anton Yeremenko, Fashion                                                   looks.
                                      know everything: who is who?
Editor at Harper ’s Bazaar
                                      You need to know and under-          Adam sees fashion as a way
U k ra i n e , wa s a m o n g t h e
                                      stand the topic you are going        to communicate and express
invited international speakers
                                      to cover. That being said, the       one’s individuality, so the way
and he shared his communi-
                                      fashion industry should be on        bloggers and celebrities change
cation guidelines for brands in
                                      the palm of your hand with all       their outfits during the fash-
the fashion industry, presented
                                      its new appointments and busi-       ion weeks sometimes seems
cases from his practice and dif-
                                      ness deals”, commented Anton.        inconsistent for Adam, as it
ferences of online and offline
                                                                           doesn’t clearly communicate
media. There’s a high level of
complexity that fashion jour-
                                      STREET STYLE                         the person’s individuality. The
                                                                           line between advertisement
nalism and editing, in specific,      PHOTOGRPAHY                          of famous fashion houses and
required from an individual
                                      Adam Katz Sinding, renowned          one’s own style is quite thin.
who has decided to get into the
                                      street style photographer
fashion magazine industry.                                                 New technologies drive new
                                      shared his path in photography
                                                                           demand for visual content and
“When you start working in            and recent photoshoots from
                                                                           street style photography is not
this industry, rose-colored           dozens of countries. Adam has
                                                                           an exclusion. Now people rarely
glasses break because you             been into photography for over
                                                                           care about the quality of photo,
understand that magazine’s            17 years and now travels 300+
                                                                           but want immediate content
finances to some extent limit         days a year to do commercial
                                                                           instead.
your decision-making process,”        and editorial shootings for such
said Anton.                           brands as, Chloe, Gucci, Chanel      “Social media cheapens our

                                                                Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   21
                                      Gwyneth Holland
work”, was Adam’s answer                     who became a finalist in the
                                                                                         IT’S IMPORTANT TO
      to a question on social media                201 7 C N M I G re e n Ca r p e t
                                                                                          OFFER YOUR OWN
      inf luence on street style                   Talent award with his upcycled
                                                                                        ORIGINAL VIEWPOINT,
      photography.                                 ensemble.
                                                                                        AS WELL AS KEEPING
                                                   Known as the “environmental-            IN TOUCH WITH
      TRENDING                                     ist in stilettos”, Xenya Cherny       THE TRENDS YOUR
      Gwyneth Holland, inter-                      was an invited international             CONSUMER IS
      national trainer and trend                   speaker of Yerevan Fashion            SEEING, TO REMAIN
      consultant spoke on trends,                  Forum. She has worked for              COMMERCIAL AND
      trend forecasting and their                  major international organiza-               EXCITING
      importance in the fashion                    tions across three continents on          − Gwyneth Holland,
      industry.                                    communicating greener ways                 Trend Consultant
                                                   of living.
      What is trend? A pattern
      or direction of change that                  Xenya was talking on sustain-
                                                                                       featuring interviews with the
      becomes visible, something                   ability in fashion, its impact
                                                                                       world’s leading influencers
      that is popular or fashionable               on the environment, about
                                                                                       including Stella McCartney,
      at a given time. Understanding               the clothes we wear, the peo-
                                                                                       Livia Firth, Vandana Shiva and
      tends drives sales, better                   ple who make them, and the
                                                                                       Richard Wolff. The True Cost is
      understanding of consumer                    impact the industry is hav-
                                                                                       an unprecedented project and
      and helps to reduce waste and                ing on our world. The price of
                                                                                       an eye opening journey, that
      losses in fashion.                           clothing has been decreasing
                                                                                       Xenya presented to all partici-
                                                   for decades, while the human
      “The volatile economy and                                                        pants of the Forum.
                                                   and environmental costs have
      an increasingly global fashion
                                                   grown dramatically.                 Guests were really impressed
      market have made accurate
                                                                                       and touched by the film and
      forecasts more impor tant                    During the Forum we exclusiv-
                                                                                       the importance of the subject,
      than ever. Inspirational images              elly screened “The True Cost”, a
                                                                                       arosen by Xenya. Two Armenian
      and cultural research are now                ground breaking documentary
                                                                                       brands are already active in this
      blended with key sales figures               film that pulls back the curtain
                                                                                       space: LOOM Weaving with
      and lifestyle statistics”, said              on the untold story and asks us
                                                                                       its handmade cardigans and
      Gwyneth.                                     to consider, who really pays the
                                                                                       dresses, and By Lili shoes made
                                                   price for our clothing.
      Trend forecasters are real                                                       from vegetable-tanned leather.
      researchers and Gwyneth                      The True Cost was filmed in         There were also ideas for
      detailed a list of sources for               countries all over the world,       developing a sustainable pro-
      foreseeing trends, in particular,            from runways to slums, and          duction of innovative textiles
      films, celebrities, comic culture
      and many more.
      In conclusion Gwyneth noted
      the importance of being origi-
      nal, while taking into account
      trends: “Its important to offer
      your own original viewpoint, as
      well as keeping in touch with
      the trends your consumer is
      seeing, to remain commercial
      and exciting”

      THE TRUE COST
      Sustainability was high on the
      agenda of Yerevan Fashion
      Forum, a personal crusade for
      co-founder Vahan Khachatryan

22   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
using waste from the country’s     Katya stressed that influencers        collaboration between influenc-
plentiful vineyards, so there’s    should stay true and consistent        ers and brands will definitely
hope for more sustainability in    in social media communica-             become more and more popular
Armenian fashion as well.          tions, have clear understanding        over the years.
                                   of their audience and its inter-
FASHION                            ests. “Be innovative. Be useful        FASHION
                                   and helpful. Be true. Be unex-
INFLUENCERS                        pected. Be interactive”, said
                                                                          EDUCATION
Katya Gousset, Fashion Stylist     Katya.                                 A n d rea B r u n o , Strategic
& Blogger with 123k+ follow-                                              Director at Textile & Fashion
                                   Today fashion brands need
ers on Instagram and Facebook                                             Department of Instituto D’Arte
                                   micro-influencers to gain audi-
talked about the importance                                               Applicata e Design Torino,
                                   ence, build trust, create a story,
of micro-influencers for fash-                                            spoke about fashion education,
                                   rather than bluntly sell the
ion industry. She elaborated on                                           features of practical education
                                   product. Besides, micro-influ-
how to start, grow and main-                                              in Italy and modern educational
                                   encers are more likely to fit tight
tain the successful social media                                          opportunities, open for emerg-
                                   budgets of growing brands, so
profile.                                                                  ing designers.

PORTFOLIO                                                                 shared her extensive experi-
REVIEW                                                                    ence in the field of promoting
                                                                          fashion brands online.
For the past 15 years Camille
Boyer lived in Vienna and her                                             Lucine notes that it’s important
presence ensured that the local                                           for fashion brands to know
scene is a tick more interna-                                             who they are to their custom-
tional. Together with Marlene                                             ers. Recent branding trends
Agreiter she’s founded the                                                go towards personification of
AFA, the Austrian Fashion                                                 brands, so it’s vital to create
Association, which serves as an                                           personality of brand and keep
important interface between                                               it consistent across all commu-
creative and classical economy.                                           nication channels.
We were delighted to have          fashion designers.                     Lucine analysed famous brands
Camille Boyer and Marlene                                                 through Brand Identity Prism
Agreiter as speakers at Yerevan    ONLINE                                 methodology. She elaborated
Fashion Forum. They talked on                                             on the importance of customer
running successful International
                                   PROMOTION                              profiles and offering design-
sales, appealing to customers      Online promotion of a fash-            ers to create pen portraits of
abroad and also made personal      ion brand was in the heart of          their target audience, “Find
portfolio review for Armenian      power talk by Lucine Ayanyan.          out what they’re into, know
                                   Lucine successfully runs HAY-          where they’re hanging out,
                                   HAY.co - online concept store          Understand their perceptions,
                                   of Armenian fashion in Tallin,         put yourself in their shoes and
                                   Zurich and Europe. Lucine              identify your touchpoints with
                                                                          your customer”.
                                      EDUCATION IS THE
                                                                          98% of digital consumers are
                                       KEY TO SUCCESS,
                                                                          social media users, so no doubt
                                      SO PUSH YOURSELF
                                                                          that social media marketing is
                                      AND ALWAYS FIND A
                                                                          a must-have for any modern
                                      CHANCE TO LEARN
                                                                          business.
                                       SOMETHING NEW.
                                          − Lucine Ayanyan
                                            Fashion expert

                                                               Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   23
24   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C H A M BER   25
TREND with Gwyneth Holland
      FORECASTING
                            Withing the framework of the project Armenian designers had unique opportu-
                            nity to partipate in two workshops by Gwyneth Holland, international trainer and
                            trend consultant.
                            During these courses Gwyneth spoke about trends, trend forecasting and their
                            importance in the fashion industry and designers had a chance to practice trend
                            forecasting with a top industry expert.
                            Together with Gwyneth Armenian designers dived into cultural, pop art and fashion
                            trends, created cumulative mood boards for upcoming seasons and left with distinc-
                            tive skills to be used in development of their future fashion collections.

26   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
FASHION
PHOTOGRAPHY
     with Maxim & Anastasia Hetman

Maxim Hetman is a fashion photographer, who has worked
for magazines such as Cosmopolitan, VOGUE, L’Officiel, ELLE
etc.
Within Fashion Forum Yerevan Maxim delivered exclusive
workshop on fashion photography for TUMO students.
In his lab TUMOians did photoshoots in the studio, on the
streets of Yerevan and even in Metsamor.

                                                        Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   27
NOT A F*CKING STREET
STYLE PHOTOGRAPHER
      A   dam Katz Sinding is an American photogra-
          pher, based in Copenhagen and shooting for
      top brands and magazines all over the world.
                                                              showed the beauty of Armenia through his lens
                                                              to over 94k+ followers on Facebook and 472k+
                                                              on Instagram.
      In the framework of Fashion Forum Yerevan 2018             I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME IN YEREVAN,
      Adam Katz did street shooting for Fashion and                  WHICH WAS MY FIRST EVER TIME IN
      Design Chamber of Armenia representing gar-                    ARMENIA. I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE
      ments from 10 Armenian designers and brands.              PRODUCTION AND THE ATTENDANCE OF
                                                                                      GUESTS AS WELL.
      Adam is a famous street style photographer and
                                                                                      - Adam Katz Sinding
      media influencer. During his stay in Armenia he

           Photographer: Adam Katz Sinding
           Model: Sara Tilkian
           Style: Dave Waldorf
           Creative support: Irina Vanyan
           Garments accessories: 5concept

28   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C H A M BER   29
PREMIERE VISION
      PARIS TRADE SHOW                                                                    February 13-15, 2018 | Paris, France

      T    wice a year, Paris welcomes
           fashion designers from
      all over the world for 3 days
                                                  explore what’s new this sea-
                                                  son, new ideas and inspiration
                                                  on trends. Première Vision Paris
                                                                                     advance. This hub of meetings
                                                                                     and inspiration is both a unique
                                                                                     place to do business and a trend
      of inspiration, creativity and              offers new solutions to develop    laboratory.
      experience exchange. Première               collections, explore the poten-
                                                                                     It was the first time 10 Armenian
      Vision Paris is one of the most             tial of fashion tech in square
                                                                                     designers/brands took part in
      influential global events in the            meters of tech area, step into
                                                                                     Premier Vision Paris 2018.
      fashion world. It’s a platform              the world of creativity, innova-
      that reveals fashion trends for             tion and original installations.   Première Vision also pro-
      the upcoming season.                                                           vided unique oppor tunity
                                                  Première Vision Fabrics, organ-
                                                                                     for Armenian designers to
      6 major industries of supply-               ised within the framework of
                                                                                     have business meetings and
      ing materials and services to               Première Vision Paris Trade
                                                                                     exchanges with buyers and
      the global fashion industry:                Show, is the world’s premiere
                                                                                     fashion makers.
      Yarns, Fabrics, Leather, Designs,           fabrics show, which offers up
      Accessories, Manufacturing                  the trending season’s fashion      As a result, Armenian designers
      – come together in Paris to                 directions some 18 months in       gained better understanding of

30   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
upcoming season trends and established busi-
ness contacts.
                                                    IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR
They also reached international suppliers of fab-
                                                      ARMENIAN DESIGNERS TO BE
ric, leather, accessories and much more as well
                                                      PART OF SUCH AN IMPORTANT
as get acquainted with the newest technology
                                                          INTERNATIONAL EVENT
in textile industry.
                                                       - Elen Manukian, FDC of Armenia
Thanks to this opportunity Armenian designers
gained recognition on the worldwide arena, as
well as obtained lots of contacts,
literature and samples.

         Armenian Designers at
            Premier Vision Paris
            Vahan Khachatryan/FDC
                 Elen Manukyan/FDC
      Aram Nikolyan/Nikolyan atelier
     Inga Manukyan/LOOM Weaving
           Sona Hakobyan/SONČESS
            Mary Sukiasyan/Shabeeg
             Nelly Poghosyan/Biayni
              Irina Vanyan/5concept
        Ruzanna Vardanyan/RUZANĒ
                Alla Pavlova/Z.G.EST

                                                      Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN CHA M BER   31
Fashion designer: Hagob Shahinian

32   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
THE ART OF PLEATING

P
       leating is a unique art     and many more. She enthusias-         Western-Armenian languages
       and technique, always       tically shared not only technical     15 Armenian designers dived
       remaining on top of fash-   details of pleating art, but also     deeper into the art of pleating.
ion and used by renowned           world fashion trends in pleating
                                                                         Aline Kaljian and International
haute-couture brands. While in     and details of haute-couture
                                                                         Pleating provided designers
Armenia only classic pleating is
                                                                         with access to high-class pleat-
used, this art develops world-
                                      I GOT IMMEDIATE                    ing production at special rates
wide. Modern pleating variety
                                      INSPIRATION AND                    for Armenian designers.
of techniques and creation of
                                    VALUABLE RESULT OF
brand new pleating forms on                                              As a result 9 Armenian design-
                                    THIS MASTER CLASS —
textile.                                                                 ers included masterfully pleated
                                    THE SAME MONTH WE
                                                                         pieces in their subsequent
International trainer and expert   CREATED A UNIQUE BAG
                                                                         collections and brought new
Aline Kaljian, co-founder and      WITH ORIGAMI PLEATING
                                                                         products to the market.
CEO of International Pleating            ON LEATHER
Beirut, shared her knowledge                                             Interview with Aline Kaljian
and experience in modern pleat-        - Eugenia Evoyan, EVE             was feature in October’18 issue
ing techniques and peculiarities                                         of Harpers’ Bazaar Ukraine, full
with Armenian designers.                                                 version of which is brought to
                                                                         your attention.
Aline Kaljian pleats for such      collections, featuring pleating.
renowned fashion brands, like
                                   In a fantastic atmosphere of
Kenzo, Ashi Studio, Elie Saab,
                                   creativity and mix of English,
Krikor Jabotian, Zuhair Murad,
                                   Eastern-Armenian and

                                                              Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   33
— Aline, pleating comes as your family tradition        During Lebanon Civil War everything was ruined,
      for already the 5th generation. Tell me please,         pleating machines were stolen. There’s an inter-
      how it all started in your family, who was the          esting story: many years after the war, a man
      very first pleater in your family?                      approached my father, saying that he had old
                                                              pleating machine for sale. To my father’s surprise
      When we say the 5th generation, we mean in
                                                              it was his own old machine, lost in war years, and
      general those of our ancestors engaged in mak-
                                                              we bought it. He repaired it, but it was more like
      ing textile and fabrics, sewing, working in this
                                                              a souvenir, by that time we had newer machines.
      domain. I’m the 3rd generation as a pleater. My
      grandma was very famous sewer at her times              — I know that you’ve started your career in dif-
      and her uncle was living in France in 1928-ies.         ferent sphere. How did you come to pleating,
      Pleating was very popular in France back then,          was it your choice or like destiny?
      so he told my grandma: ”I know you can do it!”
                                                              I’ve never thought I would do pleating, I have
      and she got inspired. It was new for her, she tried
                                                              degree in Education and was working with arts
      it all on her own: looked for models in journals
                                                              a lot. My mother’s family had men fashion busi-
      and pleated with old coal iron. This was how first
                                                              ness, so to whatever sides of my family I looked,
      pleating were made.
                                                              I was surrounded by textile, pleating, sewing,
      It was very expensive and only aristocrats could        clothes. This is something that I learned effort-
      afford buying pleated clothes. My grandmother           lessly, it was like imprinted from childhood.
      earned in a day as much as others earned
                                                              When my son was born and my mother died, I
      monthly. She worked in secret rooms at nights, so
                                                              promised my father to give it a try. Before that
      that no one could spy and learn her techniques.
                                                              I was engaged in art a lot, created something
      — How it was passed through generations?                interesting even from trash. And when I started,
                                                              I fell in love. It’s really important to love what you
      She had three sons and they established Tom’s
                                                              do. I added artistic hints to the pleating works we
      Sons Manufacturing and made not only pleat-
                                                              did, while my educational background helped me
      ing, but also clothing. Prior to that they had only
                                                              to teach students and employees, give presenta-
      textile factory and my father took only pleating
                                                              tions and workshops, consult fashion designers
      direction. My uncle, one of those three broth-
                                                              on pleating.
      ers, settled in US and now they work mainly for
      American brands, like Oscar DeLarenta, TheRow,          — I know that your father’s business went
      Coach etc. and we often work and support each           through hard times, but you managed to give it
      other. Recently                                              a new life. What helped you to boost the
      they published a                                             business?
      book about the
                                                                   When I came to business, they did a lot
      Art of Pleating
                                                                   of technical and high quality job, but were
      with history of
                                                                   far from fashion. My first step was to
      our family and
      pleating secrets.
      My father stayed
      in Lebanon.

34   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEA R IN REVIEW ’ 18
Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   35
understand the psychology of our customers. I        under the risk. You know, pleating is really a hard
                                      thought I should know what they knew to be           job, not everyone can do it accurately and in large
                                      able to create for them. So I went to 6-month        scale. If designers do not use pleating in their col-
                                      night courses in Lebanon ESMOD Beirut Fashion        lections, we won’t have much demand.
                                      School and it was quite helpful. I learned what
                                                                                           I started new direction of origami-style pleat-
                                      kind of cuts, volumes designers prefer and I
                                                                                           ing, wrinkled-style pleating, so that no one
                                      mixed my new knowledge with technologies
                                                                                           would ever doubt if pleating is fashion or not. It
                                      that we had.
                                                                                           is fashion and has always been, but we need to
                                                                                           struggle so that it doesn’t disappear and develop
                                                                                           along with the modern fashion trends. I started
                                       PLEATING IS REALLY A HARD JOB, NOT
                                                                                           modern way of pleating for ready-to-wear col-
                                        EVERYONE CAN DO IT ACCURATELY
                                                                                           lections of brands.
                                        AND IN LARGE SCALE. IF DESIGNERS
                                         DO NOT USE PLEATING IN THEIR                      — Your origami-style pleating is amazing. What
                                          COLLECTIONS, WE WON’T HAVE                       was your inspiration? How did you bring those
                                                 MUCH DEMAND                               forms on textile?
                                                                                           Everything starts from research. In general
                                      — How did you start cooperation with haute           in fashion we mimic, what we see around.
                                      couture and famous brands?                           Designers see something interesting, get
                                                                                           inspired. I saw origami somewhere over inter-
                                      I was lucky to inherit excellent reputation of my
                                                                                           net, that was my inspiration and I created 5-6
                                      father’s works, his pleating forms were made
                                                                                           different pleating forms. The most interesting
                                      to perfection, and he already collaborated with
                                                                                           project we’ve done was a private order for Krikor
                                      famous brands, like Kenzo, Ellie Saab, Zuhair
                                                                                           Jabotian. We’ve made a 3.7m pleating for wed-
                                      Murad. We already had them as clients, so my
                                                                                           ding dress trail. Before that I had form for 2.2m
                                      target was uprising and modern designers.
                                                                                           pleating, but for this project we had to build a
                                      I knew that pleating as artisanal craft was endan-   new one and it is now the longest and record-
                                      gered and would slowly die. There are several        breaking pleating. I really think it is worth to be
                                      pleaters in France, but overall the market was       included in the Guinness book.
                                                                                           — What was so special about that 3.5m pleating,
                                                                                           why others can’t do that?
                                                                                           First reason is the space. You have to have
                                                                                           enough space to open that huge 3.5m form into
                                                                                           7.5 meters laying flat and work on it. Second is
                                                                                           that pleating form has to go to steam boxes. No
                                                                                           other factory in the world can do that, because
                                                                                           no one has that big steam forms. My father built
                                                                                           it privately in our factory long ago, thinking that
                                                                                           would be useful for curtains, but later on we
                                                                                           used it also for sunburst models and wedding or
                                                                                           christening dresses.
                                                                                           — What techniques of pleating do you use? Are
 Leather pleated bag by EVE Leather

                                                                                           they preserved from the past or it’s just kept as
                                                                                           a history?
                                                                                           There are two types of pleating. One is machine
                                                                                           pleating and the other one is table pleating.
                                                                                           The latter is done by hand: we create multi-use
                                                                                           forms, place textile inside, then tightly close the
                                                                                           form and send it to stemming box to fix pleating
                                                                                           on the textile.
                                                                                           Table pleating is best for sunburst pleating, there

36                             FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
are no machines for that. There were several tries   them by machines. Both of them have their
to create machines for sunburst pleats, but they     advantages and disadvantages, you just need
failed. In sunburst pleating, machines ruins the     to know what type of pleating is right for your
threads, taking into account that we work with       design and textile.
high-end fashion designers and are extremely
                                                                                   — What type of pleat-
attentive to details.
                                                                                   ing your high-end
Machines also can’t                                                                fashion clients prefer?
                             I ALREADY HAVE MY PLACE IN THIS
pleat textiles with
                            BUSINESS AND SURELY I WOULD LIKE                In general, Ellie Saab
more than 1.5m in
                                TO PASS THIS ON TO MY SON                   and other brands we
width, so we use
                                                                            wor k with, prefer
table pleating for that.
                                                                            classic pleating, flared
Table pleating gives
                                                                            on accordion or small
us more flexibility in
                                                                            pleating. They usu-
having big pleats, doing new designs, bigger in
                                                  ally don’t have any special requirement, should
lengths and we can also adjust textiles in cases,
                                                  it be hand or machine pleated. During all these
when its pattern has to match pleats.
                                                  years we’ve already built trust in our relations,
In case if you want small pleats or pleating on so they give us the model and expect the result,
organic textile, we have to no choice but make whatever we use in process is to our professional
                                                                   choice.
                                                                        In 10-15 years we’ve tightly
                                                                        worked with new generation of
                                                                        designers, like Krikor Jabotyan,
                                                                        Ashi Studio, Hussein Bazaza so
                                                                        I already know what type of
                                                                        pleating this or that designer
                                                                        prefers.
                                                                        — What’s the future of your
                                                                        business? Will you pass it to
                                                                        the 6th generation?
                                                                        I think pleating business it will
                                                                        remain stable, as is now, may
                                                                        be with small ups and downs.
                                                                        I already have my place in this
                                                                        business and surely I would
                                                                        like to pass this on to my son,
                                                                        though he doesn’t have much
                                                                        love to it at the moment. But
                                                                        who knows, may be his wife or
                                                                        children would take the busi-
                                                                        ness. At his age I also didn’t
                                                                        have plans to become a pleater.
                                                                        I would like the mastery to
                                                                        remain within the family and
                                                                        go to the 6th generation.

                                                             Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   37
MOSCOW CALLING
      F   or the first time 8 Armenian fashion brands, shoes, as well as CPM BODY& BEACH.
          Biyani by Vahaan Khachatryan, RUZANE,
      Kivera Naynomis, LOOM Weaving, Shabeeg,
                                                         “It was the first time that we participated in an
                                                         event of such scale. We presented a capsule col-
      Zgest, Tatev Avetyan and Faina, together pre-
                                                         lection, made new connections, talked to buyers
      sented their Spring/Summer 2019 collections
                                                                                  and partners, discussing
      in Collection Première
                                                                                  cooperation opportu-
      Moscow (CPM)
                                                                                  nities “, said Ruzanna
      International Fashion          LOOM WEAVING WAS SELECTED
      Trade Show.                   TO PRESENT THEIR COLLECTIONS Vardanyan, RUZANĒ.
                                      AT CPM FOR NEXT 4 SEASONS                   This trade show is nota-
      CPM presents interna-
                                     IN A ROW WITHIN PRESTIGIOUS                  ble by enforcing direct
      tional fashion trends in
                                        DESIGNERS POOL PROJECT                    cooperation and com-
      the Russian metropolis
                                                                                  munication of designers
      Moscow twice a year.
                                                                                  and buyers and it proved
      At Expocentre fair-
                                                         to be efficient for Armenian designers as well.
      grounds more than 21,500 trade visitors come
                                                         Particularly, Ruzane, Zgest and Kivera Naynomis
      together to know more about 1,300 collections
                                                         brands got direct orders and prepayments from
      from international exhibitors. The exhibitors
                                                         buyers. LOOM Weaving was selected to present
      present themselves in various halls and national
                                                         their collections at CPM for 2 seasons in a row
      pavilions. In addition, the CPM presents different
                                                         within Designers Pool.
      segments like CPM premium, CPM accessories &

38   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
POP UP STORE IN
       MOSCOW
R   ight after the CPM Armenian designers showcased their collec-
    tions and accessories in one of the most prestigious trade malls
of Moscow, “Vremena Goda” Gallery. The event was supported by
the management of the location and provided great opportunity for
Armenian designers to enter Russian market.
For 3 days 28 Armenian brands and designers were featured in a great
pop-up store right next to such boutiques like Chanel, Cartier, Versace,
Valentino etc.
Fashion celebrities, bloggers and opinion leaders, like Elina Janibekyan,
Armen Yeritsyan, Anna Melkumyan, Gayane Breyova and others vis-
ited the popup store, bringing more attention and coverage to this
initiative.
This initiative raised the country’s reputation and competitiveness in
fashion industry, created new opportunities for Armenian designers/
brands to find business contacts and export, provided networking
opportunities to other similar international projects in future, as well
as promoted Armenian fashion and business environment.

                                                                  Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   39
PITTI SUPER 12
      Fashion buying season for Spring-Summer starts         Protagonists of this focus were selected four
      during mens fashion show in summer and ends            young designers, some of whom were at their
      at women fashion week in autumn. In this range         first international debut: Vahan Khachatryan,
      of events Pitty Super is organised in Milan in         KIVERA NAYNOMIS, Ariga Torosian and LOOM
      September for fashion buyers to discover new           Weaving.
      brands and get something unusual and interest-
      ing for their core collections. This is place, where
                                                        At Pitti Super’12 Armenian designers met Sara
      new fashion stars are born.                       Sozzani Maino, Deputy Editor-in-chief of Vogue
                                                                                 Italia and Head of
      For the first time in                                                      Vogue Talents, who
      history of Armenian                                                        showed interest and
      f a s h i o n , A r m e n i a n FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY              a p p re c i a te d t h e i r
      designers participated OF ARMENIAN FASHION, ARMENIAN                       fashion collections.
      to such prestigious trade DESIGNERS PARTICIPATED TO SUCH
      show in the heart of PRESTIGIOUS TRADE SHOW IN THE                         Vahan Khachatryan’s
      world fashion industry HEART OF WORLD FASHION INDUSTRY                     collection at SUPER
      – Milan, Italy.                                                            Pitti catches attention
                                                                                 by t-shirts, dresses
      Brand new to this edition of SUPER Pitti and shirt with colorful prints of his grandfa-
      Immagine, was the special project dedicated ther’s paintings, showing his grandmother and
      to the fashion and emerging design scene of mother. Loom Weaving presented collection of
      Armenia, realised in collaboration with the unique pieces woven hand and machine. Kivera
      Fashion & Design Chamber of Armenia and Naynomis brought to Milan princess dresses,
      the support of SME Development in Armenia decorated with beads and appliqués, while
      (EU-SMEDA). A new initiative of SUPER focusing Ariga Torosian monochrome and elegantly de-
      on new talents, with the aim of offering a global constructed fashion pieces. Let’s discover the
      projection of emerging designers from Armenia designers and their brands.
      with an emphasis on location production.

40   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
Ariga Torosian. A fashion designer of Iranian-
Armenian origins, Ariga Torosian proposes
a collection of net cuts played off white and
black, strongly inspired by graphic design, and
in line with her studies. A mix of modernity and
tradition.

Kivera Naynomis. Among the most beloved
luxury fashion brands on the Armenian market
today, the collections of Kivera take their cue
from the teachings of classic tailoring to con-
struct a sophisticated tribute to the cultural,
artistic, and architectural traditions of Armenia.

LOOM Weaving. Inga and Elen Manukyan, sis-
ters and founders of the brand, create a collection
that imbues the antique practice of embroidery
stitched by hand with a modern and luminous
style, which is bold at intervals. A wardrobe with
a practical and elegant spirit, where every gar-
ment is a unique piece.

Vahan Khachatryan. Born and brought up in
Yerevan, Armenia, Vahan is largely inspired by
his family background and by his grandfather, a
painter. Already a point of reference on the pano-
rama of Armenian fashion, the brand stands out
for its exclusive outfits, where the excellence of
quality and design is magnified by meticulous
attention to detail.

                                                      Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN CHA M BER   41
PITTI SUPER 13
      FOCUS ON FASHION CREATIVITY FROM ARMENIA

      Armenian designers at Pitti Super 12 was so suc-       a pop and experimental soul. Sporty and funky
      cessfull that they were featured and invited to        clothing that is blended with the heritage of her
      Milan next year.                                       land of origin in the light of a perfect sense of
                                                             style.
      The special project dedicated to the up-and-com-
      ing fashion and design scene from Armenia was          Kivera Naynomis is one of the most beloved
      realized in collaboration with the FDC returned in     luxury fashion brands present on the Armenian
      2019 at new edition of Super.                          market, the collections of Kivera take their cue
                                                             from the teachings of classic tailoring to con-
      A Super initiative in support of new talents that      struct a sophisticated tribute to the cultural,
      aims to offer a global launch to this country’s        artistic, and architectural traditions of Armenia.
      emerging talents and exalt local production.
                                                             LOOM Weaving. Inga and Elen Manukyan, sis-
      The protagonists were six young designers,             ters and founders of the brand create a collection
      some making their international debut: Avagyan,        that imbues the antique practice of embroidery
      Kivera Naynomis, LOOM Weaving, Shabeeg,                stitched by hand with a modern and luminous
      Vahan Khachatryan and Z.G.EST.                         style. A wardrobe with a practical and elegant
                                                             spirit where every garment is a unique piece.
      Let’s discover the designers and their brands:
                                                             Shabeeg. Garments designed by hand and
      Avagyan. Sonya Avagyan, a young Armenian               then realized by exceptional master craftsmen,
      designer, is launching her own brand, initially        the prints are inspired by Armenian nature as a
      concentrating on t-shirts and sweatshirts with         whole: the fauna, the flora, the ancient history,

42   FAS H I O N & DES I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
the traditional Armenian clothing (taraz), the
architecture and much more.

Vahan Khachatryan. Born and raised in Yerevan,
Armenia, Vahan is heavily inspired by the artistic
heritage of his grandfather, a painter. Already
a point of reference on the Armenian fashion
panorama, the brand stands out for its exclusive
outfits where the excellence of the quality and
design is magnified by a meticulous attention to
detail.

Z.G.EST. Zero Gravity Established proposes
comfortable and inviting clothing capable of
transmitting the feeling of zero gravity. A young,
successful brand on the Armenian market, the
collections are distinguished by their smart style,
innovative design proposals and research into
the shirt as a key element.

                                                      Y EAR IN R EV IEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C HA M BER   43
DEVELOPING
      FASHION

        A
      COLLECTION
        from

         Z
                                                              to
        Missak HajiAvedikian is a fashion designer and inter-
        national lecturer, speaker, based in Beirut, Lebanon.
        Missak is a professor at the Lebanese American
        University Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design in col-
        laboration with ELIE SAAB and the London College
        of Fashion program.
        Missak began his fashion career in 2007 after grad-
        uating from the prestigious ESMOD Beirut. After
        receiving numerous accolades upon completing
        his studies, he sought inspiration in the fash-
        ion capitals of the world – Paris, Milan, New
        York. His fantastical but always rational touch
        stems from his experience abroad and the
        valuable insight he gained there. Missak’s
        vision for his label was to create a
        bridge between fairytale and modern
        femininity.

44   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
THEY NEED TO MOVE
                                                                                THEIR ASSES.
                                                                             NAGGING WILL NOT
                                                                             MAKE THEM GOOD
                                                                            DESIGNERS OR PEOPLE
                                                                            OR TAKE THEM A STEP
                                                                                 FORWARD

P
      aper cuts, magazines torn, pencils, textile cuts, glue and cof-
      fee — that’s what you’d ran into, if you happened to visit
      FDC office during whole July. 13 Armenian designers went
through tough training by Missak HajiAvedikian, designer and
fashion mentor from Beirut, Lebanon.

Missak also teaches at ESMOD Beirut School of Fashion, founded
in cooperation with Ellie Saab. He skimmed the best of his year-
long fashion collection development course into 20 days of
intensive training and these were probably the toughest deadlines
for developing full collection for AW19/20.

“First of all, for me it was pleasure and I wanted this challenge
because I have seen the fashion scene in Yerevan and I wanted to
help in a way. From my first visit to Yerevan I fell in love and saw
that there is talent but need to be guided”, commented Missak on
his commitment to help Armenian fashion design.

Missak guided designers through all steps of creative process
behind fashion collection development, from idea, verifying col-
lection theme with trends, making visual research, collages, mixing
it all up and developing a full line up of future collection.

After the first days of ideation and creating resource journals all
participants presented their collection themes and ideas to Missak
and Vahan Khachatryan, FDC President. Getting comments, crit-
ics and new fresh ideas was extremely useful at first stages of
work, so designers went on elaborating on their resource journals
to apply them to fashion pieces.

In a week after the first meeting, Missak already goes through
lines of first 650 draft sketches with a red marker. “No! No! Not
this one... may be this?!... No!”, putting red crosses marking “not
accepted” designs seems to be his favourite part of the training.

                                                              Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C H A M BER   45
46   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEAR IN REVIEW ’ 18
However one must admit, it’s all for the sake of getting the best
out of designers’ heads. Next round of 30 designs of outfits looks
better, though red marks still prevail.

“I can see a bright fashion future in Yerevan. Of course they need
to be open a lot to abroad and always educate themselves. The
most important for me is the will and the dream or the aim. I saw a
lot of laziness which needs to be changed. I think people in Yerevan
are used to it and I don’t know much the reasons . But they need
to move their asses. Nagging will not make them good designers
or people or take them a step forward. I know the limitations of
the market but they can make it”, said Missak.

Futurism, Syrian girl power, modern Yerevan, mindfullness, Japan
& African mix, — these are only minor part of the themes, that
inspired fashion designers within this course.

Missak’s comment of three intensive weeks was as follows, “The
result of the workshop was good. I was content 60% time, but a
few portfolios were great and I’m excited to see what they will do
with it. I would have loved to see or follow up with the process
because it doesn’t end at design. One of the most important fac-
tors to have a good collection is the textile and the fit. So lets hope
for the best and for a brighter fashion future in Yerevan. I’m too
excited for all of them and would like to see great work. And I am
super happy to be part of their success”.

The final results were impressive. 13 full fashion collection lineups
developed and technical drawings made, and some of these went
to production and will be available for public in AW 19/20.

                                                                Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C H A M BER   47
FASHION
          SKILLSET
                 GRA D E D
                                                               UP
      Capacity building was one of the main directions for FDC in 2018. We believe that
      having the necessary skillset will inevitably bring Armenian designers to success. So we
      conducted preliminary assessment to identify knowledge and skills gap among FDC
      members and throughout the year organised over 15 trainings and workshops with more
      than 100 designers and industry professionals participated.

48   FAS H I O N & DE S I GN CHAMBE R | YEA R IN REVIEW ’ 18
E N D S
     TR                                                     subtle and significant changes in the world
                                                            around us to project how the market will change
                 On February 26-28, 2018 “Buro”             in the coming months and years.
     cafe loft was boiling with creative ideation.
                                                            “Trends aren’t everything but they are a power-
26 designers and brand managers gathered there
                                                            ful tool to help designers tailor their products to
to participate in an one-of-a-kind training, which
                                                            their market, and their consumer – vital to the
h a s n e ve r b e e n o rg a n i s e d i n A r m e n i a
                                                            burgeoning Armenian fashion industry”, com-
previously.
                                                            mented Gwyneth talking about applying trend
Gwyneth Holland, international trainer, free-               forecasting skills to Armenian fashion industry.
lance writer, trend consultant, senior lecturer at
                                                            Trend Forecasting gave participants an intensive
the University of Westminster and University of
                                                            and inspiring introduction to trends, using a com-
the Arts, co-author of a new book on Trend
                                                            bination of practical methods and shared
Forecasting for Laurence King delivered a train-
                                                            expertise. Trend forecasters act as deep
ing on Fashion Forecasting for Armenian fashion
                                                            researches, looking at subtle and significant
designers.
                                                            changes in the world around us to project how
                                                            the market will change in the coming months
                                                            and years.
   TRENDS ARE A POWERFUL TOOL
                                                            Upon completion, participants refined their
     TO HELP DESIGNERS TAILOR                               research skills and increased their ability to fore-
                                                            see changing styles in order to create products
     THEIR PRODUCTS TO THEIR
                                                            that meet the needs of their existing and future
   MARKET, AND THEIR CONSUMER                               customers.
    – VITAL TO THE BURGEONING
    ARMENIAN FASHION INDUSTRY

Trend forecasting is a multi-billion-dollar indus-
try and thousands of fashion and lifestyle
businesses use trend services, or conduct their
own trend forecasts. Trend forecasting helps
designers to better understand their customers,
trends help designers and brands decide what to
produce and sell.
Trend forecasting is a way of understanding
changes in culture and design. Usually, trend
forecasters act as deep researchers, they look at

                                                                    Y EAR IN R EVIEW ’ 18 | FASH ION & DESIGN C H A M BER   49
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