photography by shaniqwa jarvis
interview by Modesta Dziutaite
LFW The Daily proudly presents a back-of-the-Mercedes interview with Fashion Fringe winners Fyodor and Golan of Fyodor Golan.
MD: So first of all, a massive congratulations on winning this season’s Fashion Fringe award last night, how does it feel?
G: It feels amazing! I mean, the fact that these judges – who we really appreciate, and who are the best in their respective fields, show confidence and belief in us…it’s incredible.
F: It’s a powerful push. Now we’re going to have to work really hard to get where we ultimately want to be – it’s all down to us now.
MD: What was the starting point for the collection, any specific references?
G: We started with Charles Beauclerk and then the representation of Frida Kahlo…the story was about a nymph that was a Charles Beauclerk-inspired creature which started with white and a bit of folklore, then she starts applying a bit of nature – the florals and the greens. Because we looked at Frida Kahlo, we acknowledged that metamorphosis of her spine injury and applied it to our story… so looked at a lot of emphasised spines and the fragility, which towards the end of the collection consumes her and is mirrored in the silhouette.
MD: How do you plan to use the Fashion Fringe initiative to grow your label, any future plans?
G: Fully (both laugh).
F: Every bit and more. Definitely invest into e-commerce. We’re also doing the Paris showrooms and of course, being on schedule next season is incredible and we’ll build it up stronger and stronger.
G: And probably also expand both our strong pieces but also the more sellable, because this season we’ve almost done a small selection within a collection of printed jersey dresses.
F: Because we did fine art we were inspired by brush strokes – Van Gogh, and how he was really expressive and pure in his colours but even in our jerseys we want to be authentic so we’re adding that personal touch, like with a leaf cutout neckline.
MD: How was it being mentored by Colin McDowell?
F: It was great – he’s so cool and amazing, we chatted a lot!
G: He’s very nonchalant, very friendly and not too intimidating to talk to. Because he’s so insightful and knows so much he comes in and gives a lot of really useful advice that always really helps.
MD: We remember seeing you showing at Vauxhall Fashion Scout last season, how have you developed since in comparison?
G: We’ve really progressed! Firstly, it helped us a lot to develop our work…it was our debut and it was just the two of us making the whole collection in our studio flat – we had no helpers, no interns, just us. And then to grow from that to having our own studio and assistants, it helps so much in our creative direction. Also, this season when we actually had hands to help us we could experiment more with textures.
F: And also rest our eyes more. It sounds silly, but just the fact that you’re in a big room and can take more than three steps away from your bed when designing really helps and makes such a big difference and to take your ideas to the next level.
MD: How were you inspired by working with your competition at Fashion Fringe?
G: We were all really friendly, though we worked completely separately – the studios are separate so we kept ourselves to ourselves. We totally support each other and didn’t see it as a competition, just tried to concentrate on doing the best that we can by doing our own thing.
MD: What’s it like having two of you design – who wears the trousers?
G: It’s great! Both of us wear the trousers and the skirts and rotate (laughs).
F: We don’t really believe in compromises so it leads us to a lot of dialogue, sometimes arguments too but creative arguments, of which the best pieces come out.
MD: Any dream collaborations?
G: Yes shoes – we’d love to collaborate on that. Someone like Nicholas Kirkwood would be amazing as he’s one of the best in the field.
F: Or jewellery, that’d also be amazing. But also an artist, to bring something different like a combined installation or also a film director to combine fashion and different creative outlets.
MD: Lastly, what’s the cheekiest thing you’ve done in the back of a car?
G: Probably the cheekiest you can think…
Mercedes-Benz, whose fashionable fleet of cars ensure London Fashion Weekers get around in style, is celebrating its LFW affiliation with the launch of Voices of Fashion, a daily blog with exclusive LFW updates and interviews with the designers and other stylish sorts who make the fashion world go round. See voicesoffashion.co.uk
