Emerging designer Karina Bondareva presents her new collection “A Love Letter to The Working Hands of Savile Row
The Central Saint Martins graduate adores a zesty colour palette, always aiming to present an eclectic range of shades, from tangy orange to muted lilac hues. Karina explores richness of tones, weaving them into her pieces by playing with the contrasting energies between them.
Having spent her placement year at Savile Row, Karina witnessed the hands of devoted tailors and the craftmanship they display. She has taken these key values and now manufactures locally using designer cut offs and only using a small batch production, whilst offering a made to measure service, which pays homage to Saville Row which is intently sewn into her collections.
Bondareva enjoys the idea of escapism and aims to launch the viewer away from their own reality. “I love the idea of escapism so any chance to create an immersive experience and remove the viewer from their own reality, I take, even if it helps them forget about their problems for just a moment.”- Karina Bondareva
Staying away from the trends of fast fashion, the emerging designer aims to create clothes that are completely free from social chaos, aiming for the wearer to experience escapism and freedom from the opinions of forecasting trends. Her work is a form of hedonistic architecture, with structurally elaborate statement pieces seeking to puzzle and challenge the imagination, bringing the wearer pleasure. After graduating from CSM with a first, the Sarabande scholar felt motivated to expand on her work, demonstrating her broad range of skills to create additional intricately crafted pieces to form a full 10 look Ready-To-Wear collection.
Lockdown was a pivotal point for Karina where she participated in and became one of the winners of Vogue’s Met Gala Challenge, recreating Thom Browne’s iconic gown for Cardi B. Within the week, her work went viral, bringing her international recognition which fuelled her creative fire.
Designer: Karina Bondareva @thisisbykarina
MUA: @lanslondon @angieanandua
Hair: @efidavies @toniandguyworld
Models: @aliengirlxo @aramatoutoure @blakesgb @gabrielahadar
Photographer: Divya Krishnan @divyakrishnan.mua
By: Divya Krishnan