Valentin Yudashkin Autumn / Winter 2013
If you couldn’t tell from the name, by the end of the Valentin Yudashkin défilé, you would certainly have been hit with enough animal skins and icicle clichés to know you’d entered a parallel Russian universe.
Leading with silver leather and furs in icy greys, the designer delivered coats and jackets with bejewelled edging and fluffy cuffs. Ostrich feathers appeared, dramatically fringing an oversized ski hood and a little white dress. Capes in monkey and coats carrying embossed prints added a luxury element to the first half of the presentation. Yudashkin’s ski bunnies came complete with darling little round white hats, pom pom earrings and cream muffs. Thinking we had been entirely frosted by colour scheme, fabric texture and notions, we were further snowed by the second half of the collection, which sat on the couture fantasy side of the prêt-a-porter scale.
White plastic party dresses were followed by ice-queen gowns, multi-dimensionally built up around the shoulders and sparkling with diamante. Transparent fabric anchored the creations, with a ‘jewels-on-skin’ illusory effect. To finish, a veritable bridal party of looks came down the runway, with floor-length encrusted dresses paired with pom pom tiaras.
Symonne Torpy
