Valentin Yudashkin. Cosmopolitan and patriot

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

- First, a different presentation. Fashionable clothes are sold in America in large department stores - and the work in them is more professional than in Europe. In Europe, fashion prefers boutiques. An American woman adheres to dress etiquette very clearly, and will never confuse evening wear with daytime, business with loose. In Europe, there are fewer severities. And we have a difficult situation in Russia. For example, where can a man wear a tuxedo? Events of this level, where a tuxedo is certainly needed - one or two and too many. Of course, taste is something very relative. Therefore, European claims to Americans who once wore classic trousers with sneakers became unfounded after some time: such a combination began to be found even among European designers - for example, at the House of Chanel.

The synthesis of cultures is inevitable, it is natural. It is customary to blame America for the lack of culture. But this is not true! This is not an absence, but a synthesis of cultures in which the British, French, Chinese, Irish, Russians - and many others - brought their own. And they, by the way, not only mix, but also preserve their national identity: for example, different diasporas arrange national holidays. In any American city, in addition to the cosmopolitan business center, you can find many national neighborhoods representing almost all countries of the world …

- It is felt that you have personal sympathy for America. How do you think the terrorist attack in the United States will strongly affect the global economy, and in particular, the fashion industry?

- In my opinion, this will greatly affect the situation in fashion. Especially in Europe, for which America was a powerful sales market. But a crisis is always followed by an upswing. Fashion now very much depends on the economy - it has turned from art to business. And this gives her adventurousness, interest … However, the crisis will certainly benefit. After all, now the situation in fashion is tense to the limit: shows are ahead of fashion not by six months, but by a year. We are in a hurry to be in time everywhere, we live not even tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow. And we miss a lot. Sometimes you have to stop and think.

- How are your relations with the Parisian Haute Couture Syndicate developing?

Continuation…