As many journalists and bloggers know, it can be super exhausting to visit ALL the shows during fashion week and many people ask us why we don’t just make a small selection, attending only the biggest few names as most bloggers do. However, our deep rooted passion for fashion and ardent curiosity for the designers’ vision makes us want to see it all, and upon discovering new talent this often leads to very pleasant surprises.
Stavreva Kreator is a perfect example for this. We hadn’t heard of the German-born Macedonian designer before, neither were we familiar with her previously shown collection named “BOSSTVRVA” at Paris Fashion Week. Thus, her show “BOSSTVRVA Teil ll” at Amsterdam Fashion Week was quite a riveting experience and easily the most exciting collection we have seen at this edition of MBFWA!
Her collection is based on the Sworn Virgins of Albania, a group of women who took on the role of provider for their family in a time when there was a shortage of men. The courageous and assertory motility of this backstory was more than evident in the presentation and execution of the collection, making the hair on our arms stand up straight while the ferocious pulsating music splashes over us and the models set foot on the catwalk, stepping out of the dark two at a time. All of this is accompanied not only by a seamless mix of unrestrained eclectic music, but also by a video which seemed like a cut up of some urban arthouse movie, turning out to be an old home video of Klaudia Stavreva and her sister dressing up in their fathers’ HUGO BOSS suits. To add extra personal sentiment, it was actually Klaudia’s father who opened the show!
Stavreva’s designs are the pinnacle of deconstructed and revamped cool, showing us power suits and conventional patterns in a completely off-the-wall way. All of the exaggerated silhouettes from the late 80’s and early 90’s passed by such as big shoulder pads, highwaisted pleated pants and oversized blazers, yet now they seemed to have been ripped apart viciously and sewn back together as suited only for the ultra cool individuals among us. And speaking of ultra cool, the models all seemed like they had escaped straight from this era too. To contemporarily embellish the classic pinstripes and retro florals, Stavreva used urethane- a liquid type of rubber- which she often uses to give her clothing that rugged wet-look. On other designs she used satin and beads around the seams, giving them a sensual finish without compromising the bad-ass vibe. Stavreva affirms that all of the pieces from this collection have their own individual strength, they don’t need each other to convey the appeal. She designed all of them according to a separate approach and the collection reprises this organized chaos.
Stavreva Kreator is a virtuoso of power dressing as well as an artist with true identity and original vision. The unyielding applause she received at the end of this show was a definite affirmation for that!
