Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Famous designer and Honored Art Worker Fakhriya Khalafova will present two collections at Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2018.

The fashion show will be held at the Fairmont Baku Flame Towers on May 17. The first collection was created from silk fabrics with a pomegranate pattern, depicted on the eastern patterns.

“The pomegranate is one of the most beautiful symbols of Azerbaijan, popular motifs in the ornament of fabrics. Pomegranate motif traditionally occupies a special place in Azerbaijani fine arts and national culture. Today, undoubtedly, pomegranate is also a popular motive in the fashion world,” said Fakhriya Khalafova.

The second collection is created from unique Uzbek silks. For the first time the presentation of the collection took place within the framework of the third Miss Union Fashion 2018 international contest in Tashkent with the participation of models from Asia, Africa and Europe.

“I was always interested in Uzbek fabrics, ornaments and silk ... And I can say that I was transported this work to a completely different world. I discovered an entirely new space for myself, new combinations of colors. I always wondered how it is possible to make such a synthesis of flowers in one coloring. This requires great skill, talent and, of course, folk traditions that have been formed for centuries. It is remarkable that all this was preserved in Uzbekistan in its original form,” said the designer.

“I would like to emphasize that my work symbolizes love for bright images, and therefore the use of ikat has become regularity rather than a surprise,” she added.

Brightness, ethnicity and liveliness of national Uzbek fabrics conquered and inspired designers of clothing and interior not only in Uzbekistan, but also in the world. Perhaps, the most popular in the fashion industry was the traditional Uzbek fabrics made with the use of ikat technology.

In Central Asia, silk appeared in the middle of the II millennium, with the beginning of the development of the Great Silk Road. Fabrics made in the technique of ikat, are very different and perfectly suited for dressmaking, as well as for finishing accessories, utensils, interior items.

At the end of the 20th century, the couturier with world-wide names drew attention to ikat. And the first among those who brought the ikat to the podium, was the now-departed founder of the fashion house Oscar de la Renta. Thanks to his spring-summer collection of 2005 this ornament entered the elite and became a fashionable trend for clothes and interior.

It became absolutely clear that with the light hand of the fashion house Oscar de la Renta, ikat firmly established its right to be present in the collections of many designers. As soon as Ikat appeared on the catwalks, it inevitably moved to the wardrobes of famous movie stars and pop stars including Brittany Snow, Kristen Bell, Katherine Heigl, Beyoncé and many others.

As part of Miss Union Fashion 2018, the participants of the contest and Fakhriya Khalafova visited Samarkand, in order to get acquainted with the sights of the city and hold a photo session in the outfits of Uzbek designer silks created especially for the fashion show during the contest.

The photo session took place against the background of the famous Registan Square, where there are three madrasahs of the 15th and 17th centuries. The outfits blended harmoniously with the historical atmosphere of Samarkand.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Аzerbaijan Fashion Week 2018 – Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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