You need to ask yourself the question - what designer would you want to be? Conceptual artistic designer or practical designer. Answering this question will help to start your brand a lot because ambiguity is the worst.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I was born in Siberia, Russia in a small old beautiful town called Yeniseysk. I was an active kid, since my childhood I've been into a lot of artistic activities: piano, drawing, photography, videos, handmade crafts. And after I graduated from high school I decided to enter St. Petersburg University, fashion designer department.
When I was studying there I already started working as a stage costume designer in the contemporary choreography band. I continued working with them after getting my degree and in parallel, I started my fashion brand.
All this experience helped me to launch my brand and feel confident. Also, all these acquired creative skills allowed me to work on my brand alone at the start. My team consists of 2 more people now, with who I started to work within 2020.
2. When and how did you get into designing?
Getting started with design is a part of my journey, so I incorporated the answer there. Maybe I could add some years, I studied fashion design in 2012 - 2016, and my brand 'Nina Albu' was established in 2016, also I started my new brand '2n' in 2020 and we are still working on its start.
3. How do you develop a solid understanding of slow fashion what it is?
Some brands consider fashion slow when they release just 1-2 collections a year. I would say we are even much slower as we work on a pre-order basis. This model is actually not very convenient for the customer as the reality showed as they may need clothing very urgently and that's why you need to have clothing in stock.
Usually, a customer doesn't need pieces to be tailored according to her or his measurements and now we are looking for the balance: to stay in slow fashion but at the same time to deliver well-tailored designs to our customers.
The ideal balance for me is to have an opportunity to produce clothing at small parties and at the same time make custom clothing for clients who request it. Also, a slow fashion model allows the production of more complex and interesting designs.
4. How do you maintain positivity and avoid creative block?
Meditation helps. What else? Concentration on the style which I'm working in bits of help as well. When you focus on a certain style it helps to deep dive into it which inspires a lot. Design is a game and I'm always interested in playing it so I don't really have creative blocks.
It is essential to know how to rest well and be the person who can always fall in love with someone/something, this is the quality of a kid who is always curious about the world. In fact, design for me is a tribute to the beauty of this world and the beauty of other artists' work.
5. Tell us about some brands you admire. What makes a brand stand out?
I like brands with their own philosophy when the philosophy is crystal clear and easily recognizable. Personally, I'm mostly interested in the archived period of Helmut Lang (the 90s - 00s), vintage Margiela, and Prada.
6. What tips would you give to aspiring designers?
You need to ask yourself the question - what designer would you want to be? Conceptual artistic designer or practical designer. Answering this question will help to start your brand a lot because ambiguity is the worst.
I couldn't answer this question for a very long period which was making my audience confused. Either way, both types of customers will buy from you but your brand's philosophy will win from this certainty a lot if you answer the question honestly and connect it with your talent.
7. Who is your favorite designer and why?
I believe we answered it partly, but maybe I could only point out one more individual - Tom Ford as he inspires me and I like his vibes especially his period in Gucci (1990-2004).
I like that his works are elegant and glamorous. I like how he sees women - they are strong and sophisticated. It is a very hard subject as such work is often done in a pretentious way but Tom can deal with this subject in a very balanced way.
Interviewed By - Anshika Maurya
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