The Dos and Don’ts of the Armenian Fashion: Interview with Giorgia Cantarini

Giorgia, how do you assess the potential of the Armenian designers?

I think there’s a lot of potential in the Armenian designers, I simply wish they had some help with styling, increased the production of accessories – I would like to see more jewelry designers, shoe designers and bag designers. And, of course, I would like them to work more with sustainability.

What problems did you encounter in the collections of the Armenian designers?

First of all, it’s better not to copy anyone in the concept, in the silhouettes, in the message but always find your own personal voice. This mistakes are easy to correct with research, knowledge of history of fashion and also the history of your own country - it’s rather rich. This could be a starting point.  

What do you think how many designers there are in Armenia that could be of interest to the international market and could you mention the collections you loved most?

I think there can be some designers that are ready for the international market.

I loved Ariga Torosian, Reza Nadimi, Soncess and ZGEST and also Manuk Aleksanyan. I think among these designers there must be ones that can be interesting to the international market.

They should improve a little bit the quality of textile and also the size of the collection. We should see more styles and silhouettes.

Last year I talked to an editor who said that the collections of the Armenian designers are outdated. Do you share this opinion?

I don’t think that “outdated” is the right word in this case - I think some designers are simply very commercial since they try to appeal to the local market which is understandable but if you want to be of interest to the international market, you have to create something unique to be relevant, you need to think of a broader audience.

What would you like to see next year?

I think it’s not up to me to decide what collections should be created, I simply wish all the designers to find good styling, good inspiration and have a vision for a collection - present concepts, think a lot about music, since music is important - it conveys emotions and please, please, please, find better shoes.