An exciting herald of the narrative powers of fashion-making, Ulyana Sergeenko keeps telling captivating stories through her timeless collections. Season after season, she follows the adventures of a restless heroine whose thirst for life in its many facets is reflected in the way her wardrobe morphs and evolves as her experiences grow.
After last season’s trip to Samarkand, the Ulyana Sergeenko woman celebrates her homecoming with a big, lavish party of pure, unlimited fun. Her character is inspired by Shirley MacLaine in the movie What a way to go (1964), which on its turn was an homage to Countess Mona von Bismarck, who used marriage as a pass to high society, befriended Truman Capote and loved pink. The show itself happens in Bismarck’s Parisian mansion, the interiors bathed in pink, and is an amused and amusing ode to love, a force way stronger than money.
Ulyana Sergeenko dresses her heroine in airy feathers and fancy dresses, fur coats made with money bills and shoes with cat ears, mixing irony with glamour. A feline theme runs through, naughtily: cat paws are scattered on leopard prints – a first for Sergeenko – or turn into embroidery on gloves and dresses; the image of a cat becomes a structural element on corsets and dresses. Money is another motif, as banknotes of the Ulyana Sergeenko Bank are printed on organza and gathered on boas, coats, trains, becoming an amusing substitute to fur. Money becomes a print, too, or is rendered in hand-knitted Vologda lace. The season’s flower is the gladiolus – a memory of the bouquets given to the hostess of the party – appearing on jacquard skirts, dresses, and bright green and red pointy shoes. Mohair sweaters are embellished with appliqué of embroidered roses; dresses are entirely covered with colored feathers. And along with the models, the designer’s muses appear at the party – burlesque star Dita von Teese, artist Nadia Lee Cohen, actress Ornella Muti.
As the protagonist of the most amusing and glamorous party, the Ulyana Sergeenko woman enjoys life through the sheer joy of dressing up, adventure after adventure.
Direction: Alexandre de Betak
Production: Bureau Betak
Models Casting: Barbara Nicoli and Leila Ananna
PR: KCD
Hair: Odile Gilbert
Make-up: Val Garland
Lighting Design: Light Design – Franz & Fritz
