Fall-winter 2021-2022 collection from the Bevza brand

The inspiration for the new autumn-winter collection of Bevza was Princess Olga, who went down in history as the first woman-ruler of one of the largest states at that time - Kievan Rus, and later - Saint Equal to the Apostles.

The beginning of her reign was harsh. She brutally avenged the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband, Prince Igor. Olga was then still a pagan, like most Russians. And her behavior, according to pagan concepts, was quite natural and logical.

Left with her young son, the princess took upon herself not an easy burden - governing the state. She retained the grand-princely throne for her son Svyatoslav. But even then, when Svyatoslav became an adult, power practically remained in Olga's hands, since Svyatoslav spent most of his life in military campaigns. During her reign, the defense power of Russia increased, stone construction began, a powerful administrative reform was carried out, and a taxation scheme was developed.

In the national memory, Princess Olga remains one of the first rulers of Russia who voluntarily adopted Christianity. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Princess Olga was baptized in 957 in the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. "And she was named in baptism by the name Helen, as well as the ancient queen mother of Emperor Constantine I."

Patriarch Theophylact admonished Olga with the words: “Blessed are you in the wives of the Russians, for you left the darkness and loved the Light. Russian people will bless you in all future generations, from grandchildren and great-grandchildren to your most distant descendants. "

Princess Olga, returning to Kiev, began her Christian ministry. She led many people to Christ and holy Baptism, therefore in the Russian Orthodox Church she is revered as a saint equal to the apostles. The Day of Remembrance of Saint Olga (in the baptism of Helena) is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on July 11 (July 24, new style).

In 1988, in the Russian Church, Patriarch Pimen and the Holy Synod established the women's order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. This order is awarded to abbesses of monasteries and secular women for their hard work before the Church and in Christian enlightenment.

Women's fashion autumn-winter 2021-2022

And now let's turn, after all, to the new Bevza collection - what did the designer mean? Yes, the designer believes that her collection personifies a woman who, in addition to feminine beauty, has courage and strength.

At the heart of the collection there are several key pieces of clothing that may resemble the clothing of ancient Russian women during the reign of Princess Olga. Then, in the 10th century, close trade and political ties with Byzantium, as well as the influence of Christian traditions, were just beginning. The clothes were long and loose. Byzantine aesthetics contrasted the sensual nature of man with the spiritual. Therefore, the shape of the silhouette tended to a cylindrical "case", simple in cut and masking all the curves of the body, making it as if incorporeal.

However, along with the ideal of spiritual beauty, a passion for luxury remained in Byzantium. And if the cut and silhouette were quite modest, then the splendor of expensive fabrics, jewelry admired the eye and was used in abundance.

What was the stylish beauty and luxury in Russia

Naturally, the clothes differed by class. But if we talk about the clothes of a woman of a noble family, then in the 10th century it was multi-layered and was decorated with an embroidered border, precious stones, and was sewn from expensive fabrics. Over the long bottom shirt, the top was worn, and the top was a basket cloak.

The shirts had a cutout on a small gathering along the neckline. The undershirt (tunic) had narrow, tight-fitting sleeves, decorated with a border on the wrist, the upper one with wide open sleeves.A round collar was worn over the head - an amice richly embroidered with precious stones, which was an important element of the prince's attire (later this element became characteristic of the costume of Russian boyars and tsars). The cloak was overlaid on the back of the shoulders, and in the front the ends were gathered on a precious clasp (fibula).

The head and shoulders were covered by a Byzantine maforium - a long female veil, often found on icons in the images of saints. Noble women wore round hats made of velvet or brocade with fur trim. In addition to hats, there were many types of bedspreads, scarves, which were pressed to the head with a crown, hoop or hat. In pagan Russia, girls could wear hair loose over their shoulders, held by a ribbon, bandage or headband; subsequently, they began to collect their hair in a braid.

And so, we did not visit the historical past for a long time, slightly touched the Byzantine costume. Therefore, now you can see that in the Bevza collection headdresses - balaclavas really resemble female images of the period of Princess Olga's reign.

All models are closed, dresses are long, a lot of jerseys. Fringe, woven in the form of braids, was chosen as a decor.

Almost every model touches upon elements of the Old Russian style: tunic dresses, dresses with cape bedspreads, in which a cloak draped over the shoulders can be clearly traced.

In ancient times, all materials were natural - wool, linen, made by hand, and therefore the appearance had a somewhat rough texture, which is also relevant in modern fashion. Many Bevza products are made from recycled materials, for example, from plastic, as well as from textiles from previous collections, fur - from technical hemp. The Bevza brand introduces technologies that do not have a harmful effect on nature and living environment.