Photo courtesy of LèBukLe
The withdrawal of some foreign companies from the Russian fashion market has certainly given impetus to the development of local brands, both new and those that have already made themselves known. Like, for example, the St. Petersburg company WOMENSON, which produces unique modular clothing. A raincoat can turn into a jacket, warm clothes into lighter ones. Such a designer was inspired by the unpredictable St. Petersburg weather. Tatiana Kushniruk, founder of the WOMENSON brand, says: "The idea of modular clothing appeared as soon as the development of the debut collection began. I understood that there are a lot of ordinary things on the market and it is necessary to surprise! After leaving the company where I worked as the chief designer for more than 5 years, I decided to open my own brand. I had something to tell people through clothes, especially since I've been dreaming about it since childhood. My husband supported me, I sold my Citroen and bought the first rolls of fabric. Soon he joined me, and since then we have been sailing together in the raging world of fashion."
The sale of the car paid off – the first market in Moscow, in which the team participated, was a success. Potential buyers will learn about the brand thanks to the markets. And also "word of mouth" and advertising on social networks. Over the years of its existence – since 2016 - the sales channels have changed. The main thing is that regular customers have appeared among the buyers. "This is a girl with higher education, often with a creative approach to life or profession. Well-groomed, with a good figure, which certainly needs to be emphasized and shown," says Tatyana Kushniruk.
Photo courtesy of LèBukLe
By the way, not only girls from Russia buy the brand's clothes. According to the founder, there were many foreign clients in 2018-20, when the brand collaborated with an American website. Now this cooperation has been terminated due to a number of circumstances beyond the control of the parties. At the same time, relations with colleagues remained good.
Among the buyers of the brand from Saransk, Tyushtian is basic clothing with original prints — there are no representatives of other countries now. These are primarily residents of the region and tourists. T-shirts, hoodies, and accessories can tell customers about the local culture and history. The founder of the Tyushtian brand, Alexander Shiryaev, shared with the media what inspired him to create clothes: "Our brand was born from a family history and deep respect for the Mordovian culture. My great-grandmother, a native of the village of Temyashevo, was a talented weaver who created festive outfits. It was this tradition that inspired us to create a brand with a national flavor. We were looking for a name that would reflect our idea, and settled on "Tyushtyan" — in honor of the legendary hero of the Mordovian epic Tyushty. His image became the basis for the brand concept, emphasizing our desire to preserve and popularize the cultural heritage of the region." The concept was developed in six months, and the neural network helped in creating prints. We started with T-shirts, later added sweatshirts, accessories and, finally, this fall we added hoodies to the collection.
Photo: The official website of tyushtyan.As a rule, each brand is based on a personal story.
LèBukLe, created in 2020, was no exception. "The idea to create your own clothing brand matured gradually. I have two beautiful daughters, for whom at that time I had difficulty choosing really stylish things for special occasions. I wanted my daughters to have a sense of style since childhood. Our name not only sounds great, it refers us to Coco Chanel, who made a real revolution in the world of women's fashion, in particular in the approaches to elegant dresses. We took the basis of the Russian word “boucle” – a fabric that conquered the world at one time, thanks to Coco Chanel, transliterated it into Latin and added a little French chic in memory of her. It turned out to be a very sonorous and soft name of LèBukLe," Ekaterina Lesnova, founder and owner of LèBukLe, shared with MEDIA TALK.
Photo The official website of tyushtyan.RF
The company buys fabrics for children's clothing both in Russia and abroad, focusing primarily on quality. However, this is rather an exception. As a rule, Russian clothes are sewn from imported fabrics. For example, Turkish materials are purchased for Tyushtian brand items. Membranes and softshell of Chinese factory production are used for WOMENSON clothing. Tatiana Kushniruk explained why: "We have long abandoned the idea of sewing from Russian materials, since it is mainly either multicolored cotton or fabric for bed linen. There are also Russian manufacturers of high-quality and technological fabrics that fit our concept, but, as a rule, they work for very large customers and accept orders for very large volumes."
Photo: Official website womenson.ru
Natalia Dushegreya, the founder of the Dushegreya brand, is sure that the Russian textile market now presents opportunities for the development of production, but it takes time: "Accessories are, of course, our pain. The Russian production of fabric and accessories is just beginning to revive after the destruction in the 90s, and this, of course, is not in those volumes and is quite high with a price tag. Therefore, we buy fabrics, buttons, zippers, mainly of imported production. And we use Russian-made insulation, mainly from Siberia. It is made in Novosibirsk and is just designed for our weather conditions and frosts.
" Photo: Official website womenson.ru
Dushegreya is a brand of designer clothes with original prints and a special stitch. The story is already embedded in the name: in Russia, the word "dushegreya" meant women's festive outerwear. Things of this brand, at first glance, seem to be created only for the front door. That's what Natalia Dushegreya thought when she created the company in 2015. However, later she came to an interesting conclusion: "I thought only creative people would buy - musicians, artists and, in general, people close to art. But it turned out that the coats resonated with a completely different audience, which I did not expect at all. Perhaps this happened because of our cultural background. In Russia, they traditionally liked to dress brightly and smartly. At fairs, it was often impossible to determine who was in front of you - a merchant or a peasant, and apparently our population, historically accustomed to such clothes, reacted very well to this and is still ready to vote for it in rubles.
" Photo: Official website dushagreya.ru .
In 2019, the clothes of the brand "Dushegreya" were seen in Milan. This show was the only one abroad, the founder's landmark is primarily the Russian audience. Therefore, screenings are held several times a year in different regions, including Yakutia and Lake Baikal.
What almost all manufacturers of original Russian clothing are united in is the choice of the concept of their own production. This model – when everything is under control - has proven itself.
Photo: Official website dushagreya.ru .
Buyers have an interest in designer clothes, the prices of which are significantly higher than the mass market, at any time. An interesting story, an original idea, high quality products – all this, combined with well-structured marketing, make designer clothes competitive. Uniqueness and quality are always in fashion.
