Dear Pennies,
During Style.uz Art Week, I also saw the Festival of National Dress Fashion Show. This fashion show was a collection of 16 collections by 18 local emerging Uzbek designers and the main headliner the Guli Collections by Gulnara Karimova. The collections showcased native Uzbek fabrics and traditional national dress. For this post, I will be highlighting my favorite designers from the show.
The first designer is Lali Fazilova who showed a collection of eveningwear. She used Uzbek national fabrics adras and atlas for the dresses and they were complemented by tubeteykas which is traditional headwear. I liked this collection because the colors were magnetic, the patterns were bold and bright and it was so different from what I’m used to seeing. Lali did a marvelous jobs of showcasing Uzbek traditions in an artistic yet fashionable way.
The next designer, Furkat Abdurakmanov focused on jackets made of traditional Uzbek fabric. The standout of this collection was the Khorezmian caps chugurma. These hats are an Uzbek tradition and they date back to ancient times. The hats were really funky and I could see them being paired with the furry Chanel boots from this season’s Fall/Winter collection.
After this, Denis Tomilin showed one of the most interesting and original collections at the show. This collection consisted of raincoats for men and women. The raincoats used the atlas theme but I believe they were made of nylon. However, these raincoats were not the raincoats you wore as a child, these coats were really funky and the atlas themes gave them a psycheldic vibe. Also, the jackets were made like blazers so it was a very unique collection.
Next, Nilufar Yunushojayeva used her trademark grey color palette with traditional Uzbek motifs. The collection was very chic yet professional. The jackets could easily be worn to work and for business meetings. Also, these clothes could be worn for everyday attire.
Out of all the emerging Uzbek designers, Nilufar probably has the best chance of being able to branch into the world retail market. Her designs could easily be shown in New York & Paris, and I believe she would be able to catch the attention of top buyers. As I said in the Domenico Vacca post, as an ethnic or multicultural designer the best way to design is to mix your native culture with modernity so you showcase your culture but you don’t alienate people. It makes your clothes unique yet sellable (which you want if you plan to turn a profit).
As I said earlier, the Guli Collection by Gulnara Karimova was the main essence of the show and also the last collection to be shown. Gulnara’s Guli Collection featured a mixture of urban streetwear with traditional Uzbek colors and fabric. My two favorite ensembles were a womenswear outfit that was simple and chic. This outfit was a solid white shirt, yellow trousers, and a grey jacket. If you look closely, you will see that there are stripes in the jacket which can be found in traditional Uzbek clothing. My other favorite look was a menswear ensemble that combined the urban streetwear look with Uzbek culture. This outfit was very edgy and I could see the rocker-chic type of guy wearing it.
The Festival of National Dress was one of my favorite shows at Style.uz Art Week because it was truly an explosion and celebration of Uzbek culture. The show began with native Uzbek dance, continued with emerging Uzbek designers, and ended with the ever fabulous Gulnara Karimova and her Guli Collections.
And there it is. The Fashion and Style of the Pen…de la Pen.
