On Saturday, April 15, a show of the KSENIYA ROMANOVA brand collection took place in Minsk. The brand designer graduated from the Moscow State University of Design and Technology, participated in the shows of Belarus Fashion Week and Saint Petersburg Fashion Week. The show of the new collection of designer Ksenia Romanova took place within the walls of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.



Sometimes such events happen in Minsk, which are definitely lacking in the cultural life of the city. These events are rare and completely unexpected. It is such a rare event for the cultural life of the city of Minsk that the show of the spring-summer collection of designer Ksenia Romanova became.



This show can be considered rare due to the fact that the organizers of the event tried, firstly, to combine fashion and art, as well as history. And, secondly, the heritage of the Belarusian culture became the basis for this synthesis. It is not often today that contemporary Belarusian artists, singers, photographers, musicians, not to mention clothing designers, turn to the Belarusian theme in their work.

The show was scheduled to start at seven o'clock in the evening. The guests began to gather in advance. Among the guests of the show were media persons, representatives of foreign embassies, clients of the designer, specialists from the world of fashion and style.



We must pay tribute, the organizers of the show fully complied with the time frames declared by them. Guests were invited by seven in the evening. At 19.30 the start of the show was announced. And already at 19.38 the fashion show began. They say precision is the courtesy of kings. In Minsk, events very rarely start at the appointed time, sometimes guests have to wait for half an hour. So the organizers of this event passed the check by elementary politeness with a bang.



Probably not in vain the organizers of the KSENIYA ROMANOVA brand show from the very beginning claimed some kind of intelligence in their show. And in this case, it's not only about time, but also about the organization of the action itself. By the way, the event was closed.



The show of the collection took place against the background of the portraits of the princes of the Radziwills. Namely, in the halls of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, in which the exhibition "Radziwills: the fate of the country and family" is currently taking place.

While waiting for the show, the guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the works of art presented at the exhibition. Most often, one could hear discussions of portraits of the princes of the Radziwills: one of the guests assured that the Radziwills' women did not shine with beauty, but the men were even very good. However, there were also opposite opinions.



The Radziwill princes are a large magnate family that lived on the territory of Belarus (the main residence of the princes was in Nesvizh) and left behind a significant cultural heritage.

The exhibition presents artistic fabrics, miniatures and, of course, portraits both from the collection of the Art Museum and from the private collection of Matei Nikolai Radziwill, a descendant of the Radiwills family.



Designer Ksenia Romanova drew inspiration for her collection from the history of the Radziwills family. Thus, the demonstration of the collection looked very organic in the halls of the museum.



The show was accompanied by live music. Which is also unusual for fashionable events in Minsk. There was no falsehood, and there was nothing artificial - the portraits of the princes were the source of the collection and served as an organic background for it, live music was also natural and absolutely necessary.


The pianist performed both musical works of the times of the Radziwill princes, and the Oginsky Polonaise, written by Mikhail Oginsky, whose family life was closely connected with the Belarusian city of Slonim. In the 18th century, Slonim, thanks to the Oginsky, was called "Polesie Athens".



The intertwining of history and modernity was felt throughout the fashion show. The show was directed by Maya Starovoitova, a blogger and founder of fashion consulting FASH'ON. And she coped with her task just brilliantly.



The collection of the KSENIYA ROMANOVA brand itself consisted of two parts. And the collection, which is also important, was not a direct quote, a blind copy of the elements of a historical costume. On the contrary, the collection only borrowed some historical motives, associated with the Radziwill family, and these were not only and even not so much elements of the historical costumes themselves, as references to the era itself.


The first part of the KSENIYA ROMANOVA brand collection is dresses with patterns inspired by the park theme. There was a beautiful park near the Radziwills castle in Nesvizh for a long time.



The second part of the collection is "mystical and luxurious", as it was noted in the brochure, which was distributed to the audience of the show.

Were very interesting blouse sleeves and dresses presented in the collection of designer Ksenia Romanova. Sleeves - puffs, sleeve cuffs with many folds, hanging strings as decoration. Simplicity is deceiving, and the devil is always in the details. In this case, in the sleeves.



And, probably, the most memorable image of the collection was the black dress. Rather, even in general, the very image of the model girl who demonstrated this outfit. The designer herself hardly put such a meaning in this image, but in the end it turned out to be very atmospheric. Real Black Panna Nesvizhskaya. According to legend, a ghost walking in the park next to the castle of the Radziwills princes in Nesvizh. You can imagine that this is how a beautiful ghost walks around the castle - in yellow shoes and with blue hair.



After the end of the show, the guests had the opportunity to photograph the models who posed for some time in the hall, as well as to discuss their impressions. This show certainly did not leave anyone indifferent. Although the views of the audience were very different.



The original mystery of the event played a role in the perception of the show. Before the event, little was known about its concept. So is the very uniqueness of the event, the combination of fashion and history. But how much the Minsk public is ready for the perception of intellectual fashion, fashion bordering on art and devoid of pathos is still in question.