Andrey Bartenev: "I dress as I like"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

The founder of the Russian club performance, showman and fashion designer Andrei Bartenev does not consider it necessary to listen to criticism. He also doesn't like the image of a bright and extraordinary socialite. He spends most of his time at work, flying from one country to another and giving master classes to aspiring artists.

Blitz survey "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- The Internet is like Ukrainian borscht: everyone wants it again and again.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- Do not answer journalists' questions.

- Where did you spend your last vacation?

- Hotel "Adam and Eve" in Antalya - juices, massage, sea …

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- Many different, but the most popular is Barto.

- What turns you on?

- Music and fusion of eyes.

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- An owl that did fit into a lark suit.

How do you react to the fact that some people twist their fingers to their temples when they see you?

For a long time I don't care who they take me for. I hadn’t thought about it since I was sixteen, and then I decided for myself never to pay attention at all to the fact that they point a finger at me or accuse me of some kind of show. Never once did I deviate from the principle that I accepted at the age of sixteen.

I do what I am interested in, and time shows that it is interesting not only to me. The master classes that I give in the USA, England, Norway are always attended by people who want to learn something from me.

Often your appearance in the gossip is perceived as an attempt to attract attention to yourself in any way - does it hurt to hear that?

I don’t dress for them. I dress the way I like. The way I like it now. And I'm behaving the way I like it now. These are not my categories of values - attention-inattention.

At one time you worked as an art teacher at school, was that interesting?

It is always interesting with children. They were very young - five or six years old. Besides the fact that I taught them to draw, we also had such an exercise as "paint a masterpiece." We chose some famous painting, I printed it unpainted on a printer, and the children would finish painting it themselves.

It was very interesting, you have no idea how many new impressions both I and the kids had. And then we put on an exhibition of all the works, and it was very cool!

Are you a sentimental person?

It depends in what sense it is understood. In the movies, I cry, but this is not an indicator of sentimentality. I do not have such that I remember something, and breaks through to tears. I don't remember much from the past. It often happens that people whom I have not seen for many years tell me something, and I think: “God! Did I really do that ?! As if not about me. My mind is so busy with what is happening today and what will happen tomorrow that there is simply not enough space in my head for memory.

- What is your psychological age?

- The age of the nervous Mussorgsky.

- Do you have a talisman?

- Yes, this is a tiger mascot that I made for the Tiger Summit, which was held recently.

- How do you relieve stress?

- Water inside and outside.

- Which animal do you associate yourself with?

- With a polar bear.

- What melody is on your mobile phone?

- Ding-ding-ding!

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- We fly to the sun, sky and moon in one tube.

So you shouldn't expect an autobiography from you?

What an autobiography that you are! Various people called and came to me ten times and offered: “Here, let's write your autobiography! You are such a person! Make friends with such people both here and in the West!"

What can I write if I don't remember anything? I think I'll live a life without memories.

What advice would you give girls to look bright and not vulgar?

Dress in all black. The black color on Russian girls looks elegant, bright and at the same time creates a sense of an extraordinary mind and a sense of taste. Black - that's all.

What do you see in the eyes of modern Russian girls and women? Do you really think there was life in them before, but now only a dollar sign?

You know, I hardly communicate with girls from Russia. I have a circle of girls I know, but this cannot be said about them - they are real artists, poetesses, and actresses. I very rarely visit Russia, because I constantly ride from exhibition to exhibition all over the world, however, those Russian models that are found there correspond to your definition.

As soon as they find out that I am an artist and not a Russian businessman, their eyes immediately go out, and they become uninterested in me.

Who are your favorite fashion designers?

Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan. I often just go to boutiques and look at their models - how they are sewn, from what material. These designers do everything very harmoniously.

You didn't have a desire to go back twenty-five years ago and change something in the past?

No, there was no such desire, but the situation is interesting …

And yet, if there was an opportunity to meet with yourself at the age of eighteen, what would you do, what would you talk about with yourself?

I would not teach anything like that. I wouldn't say, "Aim at the money!" or "Marry rich." I am happy with the way my life has turned out, and I do not want to change anything in it.

The only thing that I would advise myself to an eighteen-year-old: "Never deny sex to those who want to do it with you." Just this.

Strange advice given fashion designer Andrey Bartenev to himself, but, as you know, outstanding personalities are not like everyone else.