The invitation to Ulyana Sergeenko’s couture show — a lenticular image of two women in the rain — mirrored the drizzly scene outside the Natural History Museum in Paris, setting the tone for her nostalgia-infused collection.
The designer was inspired by the Soviet Union in the Sixties, in particular its focus on science and technology. Cue a plethora of fabrics shot through with metallic threads, which contrasted with the bookish allure of tweed pants dressed down with flat brogues and plain bowl-cut wigs.
“This collection is like a tribute to the youth of our parents,” Sergeenko explained backstage. “They were very idealistic and they didn’t care about money. In the Soviet Union, young people were dreaming about how to change the world, how to make their country more powerful, to create something important.”
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What would they have made of her ultra-luxurious fur coats? The show notes said their intarsia patterns of woodland scenes were inspired by popular needlework stitches, but to connect the two was a stretch. Evening dresses covered in sequins or trimmed with ostrich feathers added to the opulent vibe.
Even the most straightforward looks, like a schoolgirl sweater and skirt worn with sludgy brown tights, revealed a host of luxurious details on closer inspection — the skirt was embroidered with cognac bugle beads in a chevron pattern, while the sweater was made of thick fur shaved into a cable knit motif.
The closest Sergeenko got to utilitarian clothing were the lamé knit bodysuits with her Russian initial, Y, carved out on the chest like a logo. A few were worn with sturdy suspender belts and cutaway miniskirts, striking an incongruous note in the otherwise high-brow display.