JKim and Anton Belinskiy’s debut fashion show took place in Tashkent
A traveling circus and tightrope walkers, the search for balance and one’s own role.
On May 25, JKim’s first fashion show was held in the Abu Al-Qasim madrasah in her hometown Tashkent. The designer presented her debut universal line for women and men in collaboration with Anton Belinskiy.
An authentic historical place was chosen for the fashion show. Since the 19th century, the architectural monument served as a place for teaching the humanities to poets, calligraphers, publishers and linguists. The idea of the collection is consonant with the location choice – the students, who studied here, always relied on the search for new formats, freedom and unity.
Models walked around the madrasah yard, while tightrope walkers were balancing above their heads. They became part of collective images, including a traveling circus. Their paths are subtly connected with the constant search for both a new spot in universe and their own role.
In Uzbekistan, the traditional craft of tightrope walkers is passed down from generation to generation through the male line. During the show, flags of two brands – JKim and Anton Belinskiy – emerged from their balance.
The hints of Uzbek traditional colors can be referred to Jenya’s roots – prayer beads instead of ordinary beads, old rear-view mirrors, a headlight from a car, which has been produced since 2000. The light fabrics of the shirts represented delicacy and lightness, playing in contrast with men’s silhouettes, bomber jackets and cargo pants with archive photographs as patterns. Images of headlights captured at the night using a thermal imager were compared in the collection to women’s gemstones.
Local traditional coloring can be seen in multi-layered cut-out items, chapans and the main “lazzat” silhouette. You could feel goosebumps ran through your body from the intertwining history of the madrasah – its narrow stairs and passages, the traditions of Uzbek culture, white doves flying in the yard, and the atmosphere of simplicity.