Designer Olga Zaretskaya
"Welcome to my world of good-natured design!"

"Welcome to my world of good-natured design!" - designer Olia Ruza (Olga Zaretskaya) greets the readers. And you immediately find yourself in a land of magic, in a country that smells of caramel and fresh buns, in the land of childhood. Olga Zaretskaya is a designer from Belarus. She is engaged in the design of postcards, as well as festive outfits and decorations. But a toy occupies a special place in her work. Olga is engaged in the creation of both children and adults, interior toys. Her toy is sweet and good-natured, fabulous and magical, and most importantly, it is capable of creating an atmosphere of comfort and warmth.

1. Tell us about yourself. Why did you decide to become a designer, what attracts you to this profession? Do you have any idols, designers whose work has influenced you?

As a child, I constantly painted wallpaper in the house and cut out cars from my father's magazine "Behind the Wheel", for which I repeatedly stood in the corner: (but it only amused me :)) And my parents decided to send me to an art school. This is how my relationship with the art world began. But I didn’t study very well in “art”, I wanted to walk on the street with my friends more. And after finishing school I was sure that I would never be an artist - I was so tired of drawing! But then paper fashion dolls appeared on sale, and then real Barbie and Cindy dolls, and I got the idea of ​​becoming a fashion designer (then somehow the word "designer" was not so relevant).

To make this dream come true, I entered and graduated from a college of technology, after which I worked as a fashion designer and realized that often creativity and commerce are very far from each other. And I just wanted creativity. And at the Academy of Arts, at the Faculty of Design, I learned what kind of profession this is - a designer. This, as you often hear, is not a profession, but a vocation - to decorate a person's life, but at the same time not forgetting about functionality. What interests me about design? Decorating, creating a mood. It is very important for me. And it is in the profession of a designer that you can make a holiday on simple everyday things.

I have no idols, I think this cultural phenomenon is absolutely useless for the creative self-development of a person, tk. he does not provide space for development, drives the personality into the framework of the personality of the idol. But, of course, there are masters whose work I really like. These are, of course, "positive" designers and artists. At one time, I just fell in love with the work of Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian fashion designers and illustrators. For example, clothing designer Ronaldo Fraga, whose work is a positive mix of prints and fun looks. I really like the fabulous retro worlds of Alena Akhmadullina's clothes, I love MARNI, Cacharel when working with details and accessories. By the general style and images I like SAMOSHENKO, the Russian brand of wedding dresses ROZA, the Belarusian wedding house PAPILIO. If we talk about the influence of fine art, then this is the decorative Gustav Klimt and the plastic lines of Alphonse Mucha. Of the puppeteer masters, I am very close to the magical dolls of Yana Yakhina with delicate decor and cute textile animals in the rustic style of Svetlana Bezovchuk

2. In your blog there is a phrase "Welcome to my world of good-natured design!" and, indeed, your works, especially toys, are really kind, they make you smile. Olya, where do you get your optimism, the mood that is so wonderfully conveyed in your work? What is the source of inspiration for you?

Thank you, I am very glad that I manage to cheer up with my toys! Now in America and in the West, tragic monster toys, skulls and bones in decor are very fashionable.I wanted to create an antipode for them - good-natured toys under the Ruza brand that would return to the world of carefree childhood from our, sometimes very cruel, world. "Be like children" and "Love each other" - these two phrases contain the main idea of ​​my work. If all people are kinder to each other, learn to forgive offenses and not envy the successes of others, the world will become brighter. Maybe in this idea to change the world (and, first of all, starting with myself :) I draw strength not to lose heart and bring "positive to the masses" :) there will be more cheerful person - then wings appear behind the back.

3. What materials do you use to make your toys? How long does it take to create one toy? And how does an interior toy differ from, for example, toys for children?

It was always more pleasant for me to work with natural "simple" fabrics - cotton, linen, jeans. Probably because these fabrics are very form-stable (unlike silk), and it is convenient to work with them in the field of textures and folds. And also there is no shine in them that would distract from the shape, and such fabrics remind of a fun childhood. Here I make all toys only from natural materials - Belarusian linen, cotton for carcasses and American, Japanese and German cottons for clothes. in these countries, special fabrics with small patterns are produced for patchwork and dolls.

By the time of creation ... this is an ambiguous question, tk. it happens that in a creative impulse you can do something small in half a day, and there are also long, laborious works that take about a month.

There are a lot of small details in my toys (I really like to do detail and sometimes it's hard to stop :)), as well as some parts are painted over, varnished, so, of course, they are not very suitable for playing with young children (under 6 years old). But many of my customers, when ordering a toy for their baby's room, say that their children, once having taken it in their hands, do not want to let go of the toys, they sleep with them in an embrace. Therefore, quite recently, I have a new line of toys for the smallest - large, soft, without small and painted parts. But, nevertheless, I am more interested in making toys for adults as gifts, souvenirs and interior objects.

4. Olya, in your blog there are a lot of photos of winged toys: bunnies, cats. They are all so cute. How did you get the idea to create just such winged toys?

I love Angels very much! And cats - I myself have a favorite cat :) So the idea was born not only to sew a cat as a pet, but to also be a kind keeper, a carrier of joy. Therefore, I try to betray this little nuance in the form of wings to almost all toys.

5. In addition to toys, you are also engaged in the creation of jewelry, dresses, postcards. Is there something that you like to work on more, maybe jewelry comes to the fore or, on the contrary, toys?

Most of all I enjoy working on toys and wedding dresses. Both in a toy to order and in a dress to order, a lot of attention is paid to the personality of the customer, and this is exactly what is interesting - to create an image of a specific person in the form of a toy or a dress. Well, plus in a wedding dress is, of course, the importance of the moment, which is very concentrated, and at the same time it is very pleasant to feel involved in the birth of a new family.

6. Olya, you have your own collection of wedding dresses "VYANOK". Tell us about her. What is she like? What's the idea behind the collection?

This is my graduation collection - dresses for ceremonies. The word "dress" is meant as an ensemble, a complete image. And the first attempt to make a commercial and at the same time creative wedding collection. This is an attempt to combine old and new, East and West, modernity and archaic Slavic roots. The main idea of ​​the collection is to create a holistic image of our contemporary, but the image is not brutally modern, but with a delicate national and historical flavor, to create the image of a Slavic aristocrat.And as a symbol of aristocracy, use not glamorous rhinestones or chic fabrics, but a historical detail to show that "the new is the well-forgotten old." So, in the decor and details, elements and details from the Slutsk belts were used - the heritage of not only Belarusian, but also the general European culture.

Using this project as an example, I realized that creating wedding clothes requires a serious study of the market and considerable financial investments (one ingenious idea is not enough :)), so for now this is my first and only collection of wedding dresses, but still I do not deny the possibility that when -Someday there will be a brand of good-natured wedding dresses Ruza :))

7. Your motto for life.

"Without Love, everything is nothing"