Tallinn Fashion Week 2013: Part One - The Shows
Salme Kultuurikeskus
It was time for Tallinn Fashion Week 2013, which took place in Salme Kultuurikeskus (pictured right). Marin Sild was the winner of the 2013 ERKI Fashion Show, and as part of her prize she was given the chance to be the first exhibitor, with her MASAH collection. She surprised most of the audience, including me, with her show, which was an experience for most of the senses. Not only were there outstanding visuals, but in the middle of the show, someone passed through with a kind of burning incense candle, which clearly gave both me and Leela Toomsalu, the designer sitting across from me in the audience, the same comforting memory, intentional or otherwise, of a summer barbeque!
The pre-show video was inspired by Marin's recent residence in Los Angeles, being set in the California desert, and the collection was in a series of earthy shades. It also made it seem far more acceptable, all of a sudden, for men to wear dresses and leggings, which, let's face it, has to be a good thing.
Enlarge pictures by clicking on them, and there are further thoughts from me at the bottom of the post.
Later on, Diana Denissova showed her collection - there was plenty of streamlined, classy femininity, with bow details and bold colours, in what she unveiled.
Thea Pilvet-Martinson was exhibiting her Althea collection on the Friday evening; a bit higher-concept, and perhaps a bit harder for me to get my head around than the previous shows, but still very impressive.
There were plenty of standout moments in the Great Hall of that wonderful old Soviet theatre on Salme street - but unfortunately, try as I might, I just couldn't get my camera to take good enough pictures in the pitch-blackness, against the heavy spotlighting. If this has taught me anything, it's that it has become essential to get this blog sponsored by a camera shop.
My favourite moment of the final night, Saturday, was in that Great Hall, where Kaubamaja sponsored a cavalcade of new collections by some of Estonia's most respected designers, like Kriss Soonik, a true Estonian success story who has become a big name in London (and for TFW put together an awesome rock-and-roll lingerie show), and Antonio, the chief designer at menswear company Baltman. His men's suits, coats and jackets harked back to '80s David Bowie, and had a real sense of fun, with patchworks and slim cuts dominating.
TOMORROW: The flowers, the feathers, the flounces. The coolest people of Tallinn Fashion Week, as I dabble in a bit of "street style" photography.