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Russian designer Chapurin on fashion's cutting edge
By Karl Emerick Hanuska
MOSCOW, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Mention the words Russia and fashion and the first things that spring to mind may well be potato-sack dresses and peasant headscarves, but up-and-coming designer Igor Chapurin is out to change that.
In a country where the average worker earns less in a month than the cost of a decent dress in the West, Chapurin is at the crest of a wave of talent that is breaking into international fashion and smashing Soviet-era stereotypes.
"The image many have of Russian women lacking taste is not really deserved at all," the baby-faced Chapurin, 33, said in an interview at one of his two Moscow womenswear boutiques.
"Even during Soviet times, Russian women always did their best to look good. They had a lot of success without much money. Now that we are a more open country and we can bring what we do to the West, I think a lot of people are realising this."
Russia in the last decade has seen dozens of home-grown names break into the world of haute couture.
Designers Valentin Yudashkin and Yelena Nazaroff and top models Natalia Semanova and Olga Pantyushenkova are among those winning international acclaim alongside Chapurin.
"Fashion is a global concept, a question of workmanship and taste that goes beyond borders...(Karl) Lagerfeld is a German but you don't hear talk about 'German' fashion. The same should be true of Russian designers," Chapurin said.
BYE-BYE BABUSHKA
Chapurin, dressed in jeans and a bright red shirt wrinkled casually but with enough attention to be a fashion statement, acknowledges that Russian designers still have a way to go.
"Our designers need to move away from things that are colourfully Russian, those with a nesting-doll quality. They need to reject such kitsch. It's usually a mistake."
Chapurin grew up in Vityebsk, Belarus, the birthplace of painter Marc Chagall, where his parents and grandfather worked in the textile industry.
"I remember racing around the factories where they worked. I remember all the colours and textures of the cloth and how much I wanted to make things out of them," the designer said.
After school, Chapurin studied in a local design academy and from there went to work in Paris, the world's fashion capital.
In 1992, he won a competition among young designers organised by fashion house Nina Ricci and unveiled the first collection under his own label in Moscow three years later.
While not yet a household name, Chapurin is frequently mentioned by Russia's fashion conscious new rich, many of whom built fortunes in the past decade on the back of the country's vast mineral wealth.
Alongside the Russian pop musicians, actresses and sports stars who visit his boutiques are women from as far away as Japan and the United States.
Chapurin has yet to make the leap of opening a store abroad, but his collections have appeared at shows in Paris, Germany and Switzerland.
He hopes his budding international following will grow as he adds a men's line to the two women's ready-to-wear and one haute couture collections he produces each year.
CLEAN LINES, HIGH PRICES
Judging by the garments displayed around him, Chapurin's vision of fashion is one of an understated elegance.
The delicate fabrics and muted tones of the clothing that make up most of his autumn-winter collection dominate the walls, with the only contract an occasional sparkling sequinned dress or pair of pastel-coloured boots crafted from reptile skin.
Chapurin favours clean lines, with few ruffles or frills. Bodices tend to be form-fitting while skirts are cut loosely and are made of a gossamer-like material.
The harmony of the showroom contrasts with the activity in Chapurin's workshop, hidden away in the back, where a dozen of his 70 employees stitch articles for an upcoming collection.
A woman at a huge table in a basement room cuts pieces of fabric destined to be part of an evening gown. Another sews away at an almost transparent silk blouse embroidered with flowers.
Prices on these items will eventually range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, a massive sum in Russia where the average monthly wage is still less than $100.
Chapurin says he spends a large amount of energy, time and money on establishing the image he wants to portray.
Part of that means splashing out on fashion shoots, advertisements in leading fashion magazines and the costly fabrics he delights in -- one Chapurin expects to order for a collection next year will cost $3,000 per metre.
"There's nothing surprising in that. Building a name takes time and much money. Things that happen overnight and at little cost seldom have anything to do with quality," Chapurin said.
"I am in no rush. I want to do things right, because taste and style are what is most important."
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