YEREVAN — They’re young, hip and environmentally informed. They mix East and West, minimalism with decorative, artisanal flourishes. Armenia’s top designers are strutting their stuff on Europe’s runways and creating bold, hand-made wearable fashion for both men and women. From one of the oldest civilizations in the world, comes some of its newest creators. Leading brands by designers of Armenian origin are nothing new, from French-Armenian icons Stéphane Kélian, Alain Mikli and Karine Arabian, to Lebanese-born wunderkind Krikor Jabotian and Milan’s Serapian luxury bags, to name a few.
But today some of the boldest Armenian designers hail from the Republic of Armenia itself, a small country that positively oozes fashion sense.
A New York City friend who works in fashion recently waxed poetic about “the most amazing Dahjeli store” that he serendipitously stumbled upon on his way to meet a friend for coffee in Yerevan.
Another colleague told me she has worn a necklace I brought back from Gyumri every night out this month.
Part of the Armenian story here has to do with quality. Unlike some fashion capitals such as Paris, Milan or New York, where the emphasis is often on the bottom line and mass production, the designers profiled here tend to make things the old-fashioned way. Yerevan designers employ a small team of master tailors or fashion their own creations themselves. It’s Couture with an Armenian twist, though there is nothing folksy or rustic about their work.
Like Armenia itself, the country’s top fashion designers are hip, modern, sophisticated. Elegant deconstructed tops in black and white: diaphanous chemises and delicate hand-made shoes; baggy open slit black pants worn with a beige shirt top and wave design.
