Paris Fashion Week: A look at the latest collaboration with Serbian fashion designers
Paris Fashion Week is one of the most important fashion events of the year. This year, Serbia Fashion Week got the opportunity to present its designs at PFW thanks to the long-standing Serbian-French friendship. How this collaboration came about, who was chosen to represent Serbia in Paris and how important this success is for the Serbian fashion scene are the questions we talked about with Svetlana Horvat, president of Serbia Fashion Week.
How did the collaboration with Paris Fashion Week come about? What connects Serbian and French fashion?
It is well known in the fashion world that Serbia Fashion Week was created as a result of Serbian-French friendship. SFW has been promoting French fashion designers in Eastern Europe, especially the Balkan region, for more than a decade, thanks to many friends from the fashion business in France. The top management of Serbia Fashion Week is made up of experts in the field of fashion from Serbia and France, since its inception. Thanks to the artistic director of SFW – the French haute couture designer Eymeric Francois and the president of the competition for young talents of Europe, which is held at SFW, Mr. Donald Potard (25-year-old CEO of Jean Paul Galutier, as well as an excellent fashion critic and professor at the Sorbonne University, To Marcellous Jones), SFW has built a special and solid relationship with the French cultural and fashion scene.
Receiving the honor and being an integral part of FHCM (which is the owner of Paris Fashion Weeks) is truly a historic moment for Serbia and Serbian fashion and a huge recognition for all the work and achieved quality.
After ten years of hard and continuous work on raising the quality of Serbia Fashion Week and branding our country in the global fashion world, as well as constant work with experts from our business in France, the long-awaited result came last year!
As a result of their decision to open their doors for the first time in the history of their existence and include as part of their official program, the best fashion week in the world, during Paris Fashion Week, and under the name “Welcome to Paris”, they informed us that they have chosen two the countries of Europe, i.e. two fashion weeks that have passed their multi-year monitoring, one of which is Serbia.
Paris Fashion Week is a spectacle that is covered by numerous world media, how important is this collaboration for the future of the Serbian fashion scene?
We obviously did a good job last year, because this time the interest of the world media was huge.
The importance attached to our presentation is also shown by the coverage of SFW at Paris Fashion Week this year, by the state television of France – FRANCE TV, Franceinfo, BMFTV France, FORBS France, and by numerous fashion magazines and televisions, such as LOfficiel, Fashion TV .
I would like to illustrate the attention and respect we received in Paris through a few quotes, i.e. parts of the text from A NOUS PARIS:
“Forget your prejudices and prepare to be dazzled. Serbia Fashion Week passes through Paris, bringing a fresh eastern wind to the fashion capital. With designers led by Boško Jakovljević and Suzana Perić, Serbian fashion becomes not only a promise, but a style revolution ready to rule the world. What’s the message? Fashion knows no borders, and the future could be written in Cyrillic.”
This is certainly a key moment for the further development of the Serbian fashion scene and SFW, as a brand, because it definitely ranks us among the most important and influential fashion events in the world.
Can you tell us something about our “special four” of Serbian designers whose works were presented in the residence of the Spanish royal family “La Galerie Bourbon”?
About our “special four”, I would once again quote the French media:
“These designers who started with dreams bigger than their budgets are now the standard bearers for a vision of fashion that is global and deeply rooted in their cultural identity.” They arrive in Paris not as conquerors, but as ambassadors of a style that is bold and imbued with tradition.”
Receiving the honor and being an integral part of FHCM is truly a historic moment for Serbia and Serbian fashion
Suzana Perić with her original and innovative collection was well received by the audience and media representatives. Boško Jakovljević presented a men’s and women’s collection for Martini Vesto with fresh ideas.
The collection of Nataša Perkovski Adzić in black with luxurious pieces and hand-made details was also extremely noticeable.
How would you rate the current state of the fashion scene in Serbia?
The fashion scene in Serbia is becoming more and more productive. Hundreds of fashion studios have opened in the past few years. There is certainly no shortage of creativity and talent, but unfortunately, there is a visible lack of finance and support for the development of their products and brands.
Favorite moment from Paris Fashion Week?
The most beautiful moment during Paris Fashion Week is the view of the crowded media pit that lit up the runway with flashes and cameras after the Serbian designers presented themselves.
