LFW’s Freshest Beasts Pt 2
Text by Al Jackson
Oct 7, 2009
Next to get our juices flowing was young Georgy Baratashvili. His SS10 collection at OnOff Exhibition was big on dark romanticism, featuring metallic tops and draped t-shirts – his trademark, apparently.
“Draped clothes are very free, yet very in touch with your body in a flattering way,” explained the kinetic Russian. “They also have this sensitivity that you don’t see much in menswear. When I started doing draped clothes for men, nobody else did it. Now everyone’s trying to pull it off,” claimed Georgy, with infectious confidence.
It’s the easy confidence of a creative tour-de-force, having two other collections and a collaboration with Puma behind him, Georgy indulged in all artistic forms back in Moscow: dancing (at the Fantasia school), painting, appearing on the silver-screen in Roman Khrushch’s Noughts and Crosses.
Our Georgy completed a fashion design and technology degree before moving to London and to Central St.Martins where he’s developed more “wearable” styles. His latest offering, then, is “all about movement; movements of fabric, movements of body, and how they affect each other.” said Georgy. “As a former dancer I love to be able to move, and so I hate clothes that restrict. I wanted my clothes live with the body, not just cover it up.”
We loved SS10 for the chic, modern-urbanity of its sheer and semi-transparent fabrics and neutral palette, while its layers and drapes add otherworldly, classical tones. Clearly an extension of the man himself – an “absolutely contemporaneous creature” but whose “past is definitely affecting my designs.”
And what of Baratashvili’s distinct whiff of the Kavkaz? Turns out Georgy’s a distant descendant of ancient Georgian nobility including Romance poets and commanders. “But I don’t dare call myself Georgian,” he stated. “I was brought up in Russia and in Russian traditions. To my shame, have never been to Georgia. I guess I’m more Russian then anything else.”
But he’s not interested in the Russian scene (“Swarovski crystals everywhere”) and is far more inspired by his adopted city: “everyone in the scene is very different and people have they own style which is not dependant on fashion trends, so much personality.”
Georgy’s vivacious personality shines through in his pieces, even if the man himself was flagging after five days of OnIOff abuse. Still, he took away good reason for cheer as buyers from Emirates bought his sheer and semi-transparent “Iconic” drape-tees. “Most surprising was that they were womenswear buyers!” shrieked Georgy, with the unmistakable glint of scandal in his eyes.
Tags: Georgy Baratashvili, LFW, London, Moscow, On/Off, St. Martens, Swarovski crystals
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