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Sexy.
Daring. Insanely unique. All of these words describe Dmitry Sholokhov’s Spring/Summer
2014 collection, which he calls a ‘transition’ collection.
New
York City-based Dmitry Sholokhov, of Project Runway fame, has slowly been
building his fashion empire for many years before his appearance on the reality
television show. He’s created luxurious
dresses, trousers and shirts and has long played with cutouts, sheer material
and fringe details. When he was formally introduced to the world via Project
Runway, he debuted a tasteful perspective on cocktail dresses and other pieces
that fit perfectly in a working woman’s closet.
Now,
though, with more than a year of whirlwind international recognition under his
belt, Dmitry has created a collection that is daring, exciting and different
from anything he’s shown the world before.
The
SS2014 collection first sashayed into the world at Panama Fashion Week in late
2013, complete with dresses made for warrior queens, a menswear inspired black
jacket worn as a top (with nothing underneath!) and a gold jacket with fabulous
fringe sleeves. Perhaps most surprisingly, though, the collection includes
splashes of delicate cotton candy pink and blue denim. While these two
polarized styles might clash in less capable hands, here they connect, one
after another, as if telling a story of a family of sisters. The common thread,
of course, is the designer.
(A dress made for the warrior party-girl princess in all of us)
_______
In
person, Dmitry is both gracious and graceful, standing a little taller than
everyone else and possessing an old-world charm in manner and speech. At
once professional and keenly intelligent, he’s also able to surprise you with a
quick sense of disarming humor when least expected. He’s a conversationalist who truly knows a
little about everything… from pop culture (Grumpy Cat! Game of Thrones!) to
worldwide travel (Russia, Europe, dreamy beach locales) to spiritualism and beyond.
And he designs clothes that can be worn with confidence by women of a variety of sizes.
When
I first met Dmitry for his Lord & Taylor presentation, the
line of fans waiting to meet him all shared a similar palpable excitement to
meet the designer. At Book Expo America 2013, when he was gracious enough to
join me for a brief appearance, he was met around every corner with delight
from fans who wanted to say hello or snap a picture. Dmitry’s fans are a varied
lot, covering every corner of our little planet, but they’re also a creative
lot, making gif images of some of his quips from Project Runway and fanart that
pops up on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. He’s inspired fan accounts
on almost every social media platform, both because of his incredible talent
for fashion and his affable personality.
I
had the pleasure of catching up with Dmitry recently, to talk about his SS2014
collection. Read on to learn more about his inspiration, how you can purchase
your own Dmitry Sholokhov piece, his least favorite Game
of Thrones character and his love for Daft Punk…
It’s great
to chat with you again, Dmitry. It’s been almost a year since I had you as a
guest on my radio show. A lot has happened with you since then! You
showed your beautiful Spring 2014 collection at Panama Fashion Week, unleashing
some really exciting new shapes on the world. You’ve said that Game of Thrones
had a bit of an influence on you for this collection, and I can see some
definite Daenerys-worthy pieces in it. Can you tell us how the show inspired
you?
Hi Kendra, it’s always a pleasure! Yes, a lot
happened since I won PR. I had an amazing and very busy year.
Panama was a great experience. I was invited
to show my latest collection as VIP international guest designer.
The show was a great success. It turns out I
have a lot of fans in Central and Latin America as well.
I love Game of Thrones, and the show was a
starting point for my latest collection. I was inspired by the historic
costumes with the fairytale flavor to them. And I wanted to create
a collection that is wearable but special. I love what I did. I think the
collection is modern, young and cool with the historic twist to it. And most
important, it’s wearable!
Of course,
many of your fans wanted me to ask you if you have a favorite character or
characters from Game of Thrones!
I am obsessed with pretty much everyone; no
big fan of Joffrey though!)
Oh God,
right! Joffrey is only one of the most despicable characters in TV history.
Okay, but we have to talk about that fabulous gold jacket. It has some definite
Dmitry elements, with the fringe on the sleeves, but it’s got this fabulous
punch of gold color. Why did you choose gold for that jacket?
Gold is making its way back in fashion and it’s
such a statement color. Love it! And I think it’s always a challenge to
create something loud but not tacky. As for the fringe, now all of a sudden
everyone is doing fringe and it’s very much in style. But I never get tired of
it, and I think you will see more fringe from me in the future.)
The front
cutout (in some of the dresses) is a daring and very sexy move! Were you
intentionally creating a sexy silhouette in this collection?
I think this collection was a bit of a
transition from old me to new me. It’s important to constantly reinvent
yourself but never lose your aesthetic authenticity. Artistic expression is
always a reflection of who we are at the moment.
On your
website (www.dmitrysholokhov.com)
you have your O. Jen collection up for sale, including a lot of luxe statement
pieces like faux fur jackets, dresses and extraordinary trousers. Will
your Spring 2014 collection be up for sale as well?
The Spring 2014 collection is available for
special orders only.
Your art
student fan Maki wanted me to say that you’ve been an inspiration to her, and
ask if you’ll do another fan meet and greet at some point?
Hi Maki!) I will definitely do a fan meeting
in the future, perhaps when I show my next collection in NY during MBFW.
Of course
your fans should keep up with you on twitter and Instagram (both
@dmitrysholokhov) as well as facebook. But where should they expect to see you
next? Runway shows, cover of Vogue, maybe sitting on the Iron Throne with your
own direwolf?
I am in the process of building Dmitry
Sholokhov brand and taking it to the next level. The best way to see all the
latest updates is by following me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and dmitrysholokhov.com.
I am pretty sure that you will see me everywhere sooner rather than later. Not sure about the Iron Throne, but you never know!)
Well,
someone’s got to take the Iron Throne away from Joffrey!
Finally,
what’s your current….
*Song you
can’t stop listening to?
Can’t control myself when I hear Get Lucky by Daft Punk
*Book you
can’t put down?
Need to find one!
*Favorite
item of clothing or accessory?
My leather pants and YSL boots
Daft Punk, great choice! Can't stop listening to that one, either! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Like Dmitry on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmitry.sholokhov
Twitter: @dmitrysholokhov
Instagram: @dmitrysholokhov
Order your own Dmitry Sholokhov dress from his SS2014 collection through his website: http://dmitrysholokhov.com/contact
Dmitry fan tumblr: http://all-about-dmitry.tumblr.com/
Listen to my April 2013 interview with Dmitry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcGvBxiiQ9k
And check out some shots of my own Dmitry dress making its big appearance at BEA: http://kendralsaunders.com/BEA2013.html
Thrilled w Dmitry win of allstars. He has class and charm. Id love to see him dance.,but he is handsdown the best designer ever on the show.
ReplyDeletebeautiful ! congrts dmitry !
ReplyDelete