Building a future for Belarus fashion

In anticipation of the new season of the main fashion event in Belarus, we talked to Yanina Hancharova, the chairman of the RPO "Belarus Fashion Council" and head of the Organizing Committee of BFW.

In November 2013 will be held the seventh Belarus Fashion Week. It is as much as 3.5 years of fruitful work. Please, tell me how has the project changed during that time?

When we launched the first Fashion Week in our country, it could hardly be spoken of existence of fashion industry. Were held various contests and festivals, but professional platform for meetings of designers with representatives of business sphere didn't exist. During this period fashion became interesting not only for enterprises, that a priori work in the garment industry, but also for seemingly far from fashion and art companies. Exactly this was originally our goal.

In addition Fashion Week serves as a link between the podium and consumer for several years. Today designer clothing can be bought in stores, it becomes more affordable what seemed impossible just a few years ago.

It is said that it's easier and better to create something new rather than try to fix something available. How do you feel about the appearance of fashion-projects, which hold out "alternative" approach to events running?

Formation of the fashion industry in the country implies existence of different forms of activity and areas of development. We stand for the formation of high-quality fashion in the country as a whole. If fashion-events are held at a high level and stimulate the emergence of new designer showrooms and brands, I fully support such initiatives. The main thing is that these goals should prevail in minds of the organizers.

The way to gain fame by claiming without proof that the new project will be better, more professional, is closer to the heart of the object of dispute since ancient times used in world practice. But the audience, that requires a quality product requires, weakly reacts to the rant of such "woe - revolutionaries."

What is the key to success in conducting of professional activities in the field of fashion?

Belarus Fashion Week has already managed to earn a reputation of the largest fashion-event of the country, largely due to the continuous improvement of the project, focus on the best foreign colleagues, revision of their expertise and its adaptation to our social conditions. I also want to say that an important factor of successful work is a close-knit team, where personal initiative of each employee under the capable leadership makes an indispensable contribution to our common cause.

Fashion Week in Belarus project goes beyond the local bounds - it is talked about abroad, is known in professional circles. Does Organizing Committee of BFW have any plans of acting on the international arena and in what format?

International cooperation is the direction to which we pay special attention lately. As you probably know already from our RPO "Belarus Fashion Council" has signed agreements with a number of fashion weeks and trade fairs. At the beginning of October in Minsk will host business program with participation of representatives of major European companies such as Who's, Next and IGEDO Company, which are engaged in organization of international exhibitions in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Moscow and Paris. Belarusian designers with our active support seasonally take part in many Fashion Weeks (Poland, Ukraine, Russia), and this season we will show the collection on the catwalk of Kazakhstan Fashion Week. And there are already plans for the next season - now we work on the possibility to present Belarusian designers at Milano Moda Donna in Spring 2014.

Besides each season to Fashion Week in Belarus come dozens of foreign guests - heads of international Fashion Weeks (Mario Boselli, Vladimir Nechiporuk), well-known journalists (Marcellous Jones) and bloggers (Yvan Rodic), buyers, cultural and art figures.

One of these days BFW Organizing Committee has presented an image campaign. Tell me, what was the inspiration for the new season and what it will be.

The main idea of the campaign was the creation of a spring, tender, romantic and bright images, symbolizing the birth of something new. These are the images of young girls, which have always been sung by the poets, painters, sculptors. Inspiration for creation of such images were the works of artists of the Quattrocento - Botticelli and Perugia, as well as marching in their steps Pre-Raphaelites. Flowing silhouettes, soft translucent fabrics, reduced color palette, abundance of flowers and floral designs create a new aesthetic ideal of the emphasized sensual beauty

This season we will continue all of our existing projects - contests for young designers and bloggers, shows of the OFF SCHEDULE program and educational program. The only thing that I can now say that due to the great number of persons, who want to present own collections on the catwalk BFW, we have decided to increase the number of show days to five.

You are rightly considered the face of Belarusian fashion. Hardly anyone else in our country loves and supports Belarusian designers. What do you think, who among designers has "guessed" the trends of the new season? Whose clothing are the most up to date at the moment?

Undoubtedly, got into trends those designers who participate every season in professional fashion-events: markets, exhibitions, Fashion Weeks. For example, graphic prints by MARINICH, brilliant colors of Historia Naturalis, monochrome of BOITSIK and Maria Dubinina work with textures - these are the main trends of the season Fall-Winter 2013/2014.

Already now are prepared collections for Spring-Summer 2014. Please, tell us what unusual should we expect from Belarusian designers at BFW.

Traditionally, there are many surprises for the audience of Fashion Week. For the first time on the catwalk of BFW will be presented collection of Belarusian Fashion Centre. Besides I'm sure that regular participants such as Boitsik Panaskin, Historia Naturalis, FurGarden, Marinich, Harydavets & Efremova, Maria Dubinina and Alexander Krasnitskij, Tanya Arzhanova, Kucherenko, Ivan Aiplatov and many others will also surprise us. On the main catwalk will present their collections the "newcomers" of BFW - Schet:ko, Apti Eziev, Sheldon / Bureau № 8 (UA), "Arka", and this season the OFF SCHEDULE program will be held at the new address.