俄羅斯時裝受歐美青睞

Say goodbye to the animal print, mink and gold lamé. After a rocky 1990s and noughties when the dour Soviet colour wheel was swapped for the excesses of the Putin oil boom, Russia’s Fashion world has finally hit its stride, with a new crop of designers putting a modern take on Russia’s cultural heritage and enjoying crossover success in the west.

動物斑紋裝、貂皮裝以及金色亮片裝已成往事。經過上世紀90年代與21世紀頭十年的重重困難（前蘇聯單調乏味的服裝色調因普京時代的滾滾石油財源而徹底改觀），俄羅斯的時裝業開始大踏步前行，新涌現的一波設計師賦予了俄羅斯文化傳統以現代風格，成功實現風格轉型，在西方社會大獲成功。

In recent months, designers such as Olga Vilshenko, Vika Gazinskaya (both available from Net-a-Porter) and Ulyana Sergeenko, who specialise in Russian folk art-inspired bohemian designs, have gained a following in Hollywood, New York and London that remains undimmed by the geopolitical events. Opening Ceremony in the US and Brown’s in London have also begun stocking Walk of Shame Moscow, a new brand by Andrey Artemov.

近幾個月以來，奧爾加•維爾申科(Olga Vilshenko)、維卡•甘琴斯卡婭(Vika Gazinskaya)以及烏里揚娜•瑟吉安科(Ulyana Sergeenko)等設計新銳師在好萊塢、紐約以及倫敦擁有衆多明星擁躉。前兩人的時裝在Net-a-Porter網店有售，而烏里揚娜•瑟吉安科則專門設計受啓發於俄羅斯民間藝術的波希米亞風格的時裝。西方的時尚擁躉們也完全清楚烏克蘭因地緣政治而爆發的戰事。美國的Opening Ceremony及倫敦的布朗百貨店(Brown’s)也開始囤積Walk of Shame Moscow的貨，這是設計師安德雷•阿爾捷莫夫(Andrey Artemov)最新設立的時尚品牌。

At the Golden Globes last month nominee Julianna Margulies wore a Sergeenko gown, while Rihanna andKim Kardashian have become fans of Sergeenko’s more revealing outfits: Rihanna chose a white body suit and sheer robe for the MTV Movie Awards, while Kardashian has been photographed in various plunging bodices.

在好萊塢的金球獎頒獎典禮上，入圍者朱麗安娜•瑪格麗絲(Julianna Margulies)身穿瑟吉安科設計的長外衣，而蕾哈娜(Rihanna)與卡戴姍(Kim Kardashian)也已成爲瑟吉安科暴露裝的忠實粉絲：蕾哈娜穿了瑟吉安科設計的白色緊身衣與睡袍參加MTV電影大獎頒獎(MTV Movie Awards)典禮，而卡戴姍更是身穿深V緊身胸衣公然亮相。

The actress Elle Fanning, meanwhile, is a follower of Gazinskaya and Walk of Shame Moscow. Across the Atlantic, London “It” girl Alexa Chung and the singer Florence Welch have both been seen in Vilshenko.

與此同時，少女明星艾麗•範寧(Elle Fanning)則是甘琴斯卡婭與Walk of Shame Moscow的擁躉。在大西洋彼岸的倫敦，時尚名媛艾裏珊•鍾(Alexa Chung)與歌星佛洛倫絲•韋爾奇(Florence Welch)則身穿維爾申科品牌時裝拋頭露面。

The timing of their newfound popularity may seem off, but it’s evidence of a sea change in Russian fashion. It has ceased being a dalliance for a few well-off socialites and become a real industry more fitting of the Russian fashion market, worth $58bn in 2014, according to Fashion Consulting Group. “There is a myth about Russian fashion that it can’t be a real business . . . that it’s just some rich girls — the wives of rich businessmen dressing up their girlfriends. But, actually, it hasn’t been like this for a while,” says Ksenia Solovieva, editor-in-chief of Russian Tatler.

這些新的流行時裝的風頭似乎已經過去，但這是俄羅斯時尚業徹底轉變的證據。它們也不再是少數闊綽時尚名媛們的“一時興起”，而是已成長爲契合俄羅斯時裝業實際的真正產業——根據時尚諮詢集團(Fashion Consulting Group)的統計數字，2014年俄羅斯時裝業的總產值達580億美元。“坊間一直流行這樣的錯誤看法：俄羅斯時裝業不可能真正成爲產業……僅是一些有錢女孩（原是商界富豪的女友，由對方出資從事設計，如今已爲人婦）的‘遊戲’。但實際情況早已今非昔比，”俄羅斯《Tatler》雜誌主編柯西尼婭•索洛維耶娃(Ksenia Solovieva)如是說。

“The husbands who at one time were helping their girlfriend designers with money aren’t [doing that] any more. The husbands are now asking for a business plan . . . A lot of designers are looking at fashion foremost as a business, and developing a strategy for how to make money not today or tomorrow, but long-term.”

“一度出資協助自己設計師女友的富豪丈夫如今已改變策略。他們如今要求愛妻提供商業發展計劃……很多設計師首先把時裝業視爲產業，並着手製訂長遠贏利策略，而非中短期戰略。”

Vilshenko was one of the first designers to forge this route. While her husband was once the principal investor, he exited after an outside investor took over. She is now managing 25 staff with a boutique and workroom in Moscow and a London office for UK clients.

維爾申科是制訂長遠發展規劃的首批設計師。儘管她丈夫過去是主要出資者，但在外部投資者接管後他選擇了全身而退。她如今僱有25名員工，在莫斯科擁有自己的專賣店與工作室，並在倫敦開設了專爲英國客戶服務的辦公室。

For Vilshenko, the brand’s foreign client base has been a blessing — mitigating the effects of the weakening Russian currency. “It’s good we’re not only in Russia,” she says of her business, which has a strong following in the Gulf also. “Garments that have a long length, a high neck and long sleeves are popular there,” says Vilshenko. “Their traditions are actually quite close to ours.”

對於維爾申科來說，擁有外國客戶羣實屬福音——此舉可以大大減輕俄羅斯貨幣貶值造成的負面影響。“我們成功開拓了俄羅斯之外的市場，十分有利。”她指的是自己的生意，如今她的品牌在海灣國家也有衆多擁躉。“超長款高領長袖裝在海灣地區十分暢銷，”維爾申科說。“她們的穿着習慣與我們十分相近。”

However, even international sales can’t protect Russia’s leading designers from the effects of an almost 50 per cent fall in the rouble over the past year — Vilshenko and Sergeenko, for instance, import most of their materials.

但是，國際市場的銷售成績再亮麗，也無法真正保護俄羅斯的知名設計師，因爲過去一年，盧布的匯率幾近腰斬——舉個例子，維爾申科與瑟吉安科使用的多數面料均爲進口。

In an interview Sergeenko, who at Paris Couture Week decided to forego doing a show, instead offering one-on-one appointments, said she is also worried about the damaging effect of US and EU sanctions, as well as those on the Russian side — last year, the Kremlin’s chief economic adviser hinted it could ban the import of some European clothing and fabrics.

瑟吉安科接受訪談時說：自己除了擔心俄羅斯對美歐實行制裁的影響外，還對美歐對俄經濟制裁所造成的破壞效應憂心忡忡——俄羅斯首席經濟顧問去年曾暗示可能會禁止進口部分產自歐洲的服裝與面料。

“I can’t imagine how in the modern world people can create these limits,” Sergeenko said, sitting in her Moscow showroom. “We have lived through so much  . . . In Russia you always witness some sort of historical event. There will be a period of calm, then something else happens.”

“我無法想象生活在現代社會的人相互之間會如此‘以鄰爲壑’”，坐在自己莫斯科時裝陳列室的瑟吉安科如是說。“我們與西方之間經歷瞭如此多的風風雨雨……在俄羅斯，總能親歷某些歷史性事件。往往過上一段時間的寧靜生活後，就會折騰些波折來。”

At her couture show in Paris last July — against a backdrop of conflict in east Ukraine — Sergeenko’s show began with the sound of a gunshot before a model entered in a calf-length leather jacket reminiscent of the Soviet secret police uniforms. (The designer says the idea was dreamt up long before the events of 2014.) Andrey Artemov of Walk of Shame Moscow says the crisis has been commercially unpredictable, describing how a Russian client might complain about the rouble but still buy the entire collection.

去年七月，瑟吉安科在巴黎舉辦了自己的高級時裝展（儘管此時烏克蘭東部地區的衝突不斷），開場白竟是一聲槍響，然後是一位模特上場，她身穿長及腿肚子的皮夾克，不由得讓人想起前蘇聯祕密警察的制服。（設計師說其靈感早在2014年烏克蘭危機爆發之前就已構思好。）設立Walk of Shame Moscow品牌的設計師安德雷•阿爾捷莫夫說烏克蘭危機給商業前景造成不可預測性，他形容一位俄羅斯客戶儘管會抱怨盧布大幅貶值，但仍會悉數買下整個系列。

Like other designers, Walk of Shame Moscow is taking no chances on the domestic market. Last year, the brand which specialises in lingerie-inspired dresses, trucker hats and boyfriend jackets — its muse being a hipster Holly Golightly, or “the cool and funny girl who drinks champagne for breakfast”, as Artemov puts it — opened a temporary showroom in Paris to coincide with the city’s fashion week.

與其他設計師的選擇一樣，Walk of Shame Moscow爲萬全起見，並沒在俄羅斯國內銷售。去年，這家主打連衣裙（設計靈感來自貼身內衣）、卡車司機帽以及女夾克的品牌在巴黎開設了臨時展廳，恰巧與巴黎時裝週“撞牆”。Walk of Shame Moscow的御用模特是潮女霍莉•戈萊特麗(Holly Golightly)，也就是那位新潮風趣、早餐就喝香檳酒的時尚女。

Artemov’s dream is to open an office in Europe. “I don’t want to create a Russian brand,” the designer says. “I want to create an international brand.”

阿爾捷莫夫的夢想是在歐洲開辦自己的分部。“我不希望創建俄羅斯時尚品牌，”她這樣說道。“我的理想是創立國際知名品牌。”

Courtney Weaver is the FT’s deputy Moscow bureau chief

柯特妮•韋弗爲《金融時報》莫斯科分部副主任