When Valentino presented haute couture Spring/Summer 2015 collection on Jan. 29 in Paris, the audience and fashion critics were charmed. In Ukraine this romantic collection got a lot of attention and made the headlines - not because of its beauty, but because the ethnic motives in it were clearly borrowed from the Eastern European cultures, including Ukrainian.
However, the brand’s official Facebook page called all the clothing with ethnic motives “inspired by Russian countryside.” Description of the looks read “Russian-inspired dress and blouse in natural linen embroidered with threads and pearls” or “Russian-inspired linen and sheepskin gilet.” In fact, the blouse and sheepskin gilet looked exactly like zhupan and keptar, both elements of Ukraine’s traditional costume.
Ukrainian commentators reacted at once, resenting over the misattribution.
“Do you know that Ukraine is a separate country with totally different ethnic traditions (including the embroidery) which Valentino has so successfully used?” Ukrainian Olena Kutsenko wrote under a photo that featured a Valentino collection look with traditional Ukrainian embroidery that was cutlined as “Russian-inspired.”
The mistake seems especially rude when put in the political context. One of the aspects of the ongoing Ukraine’s separatist conflict, that was inspired and supported by Russia, has been an argument over the intensity of the connection of the two countries. Russian state (and before that, Soviet Union and Russian Empire) has a history of denying to acknowledge that Ukraine’s culture is separate and independent from the Russian one. In this context, Valentino’s mistake couldn’t have worse timing.
I couldn’t help but notice that Valentino website has a Ukrainian version with .ua domain, but it is written in Russian. There one can pre-order haute couture dresses, including those with trademark Ukrainian red embroidery, which were hardly “inspired with Russian countryside.”
But when we trace the background of Valentino collection, it becomes clear that its authors have offended another culture too – Belarussian. The brand claims that the inspiration for the collection came from the works of modernist Marc Chagall, who they deemed Russian.
In fact, Chagall was a Belarus Jew who immigrated to France. Belarus in time of his birth was part of Russian Empire, indeed, but calling him Russian is as inaccurate as calling an Irish person a Brit. And as rude as seeing any piece of Eastern European national clothing as Russian.
I wondered if Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccoli, the designers behind the Valentino collection, have ever heard about Ukraine. After all they authored a collection that features vyshyvanka (a long shirt with baggy sleeves and ornaments in white-red-black colors), zhupan (a plain long coat), and keptar (a fur-lined waistcoat).
I messaged Valentino Facebook page but received no answer in two days.
While I’m displeased with the brand’s missattribution of its ethnic designs, I must admit I liked the collection. I don’t consider myself a style-savvy person, but I found Valentino’s dresses gorgeous. But the offensive ignorance about the culture overshadows their beauty.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana Romanyshyn can be reached at [email protected].
