Oksana Ponomareva “my creations are connected with painting”
1.Tell me a bit about your brand?
The ОK’SUNRISE brand was created for the trisomy 21 children, and for the people who back families with such children up. The outline frames of this brand constructively adapted for the specific physiological markers of the adults and kids with trisomy 21. So that the clothes fit well and look tidy. The subjects of the brand are solar patterns and the figure of the sun and sunny bright colors. It is fitting that the trisomy people are often called “sunny people.” They are very positive and friendly. I like colors because my creations are connected with painting. I use textile paintings, felt cloth, pastel, and watercolors. I mainly paint landscapes, flowers, and people sometimes.
When my daughter, Polina with trisomy 21 was born in 2013, I turned to the special needs people. I began to think about her future. How she would live, what she would be fond of; what she would engage with, and how she would look like. It’s very important that society would take people with such a diagnosis optimistically and accept their peculiarities. Such people like my daughter should have a productive life and their own self-actualization. That’s why I hope my brand will help them look great!
2. What’s the story behind this collection? Who/ what inspired it?
“Mosaic” collection was created with the financial and technical support of the Irkutsk region noncommercial association of the parents who had children with special needs “Raduga”. This association is for the same parents of the trisomy 21 children as I am. The idea of the “Mosaic” collection is to use the irregular non-constructive cutout garment and the mosaic cloth matching in the patchwork technique. Mosaic resembles parts of the complicated nature of the trisomy 21 people. Their actions are often hard to understand for people with a neurotypical development. However, it doesn’t mean that special needs people are deprived of their inner beautiful nature. Just like us, they can show their view of life that differs from ours sometimes. “Mosaic” collection is an attempt to show the specific art and specific world, that doesn’t match the habitual and customary standards.
The second peculiarity of all costumes of this collection is its multilayer design. Each costume has two to four things. Firstly, this multilayer approach is defined by our region – Siberia. It’s cold most of the time. Secondly, the multilayer approach lets us combine things in different ways. By creating different costume sets. For example, you can wear just a blouse and a petticoat. Or you can add a sarafan and take the petticoat away.
I chose only natural clothes for the collection. Which are: cotton, flaxen linen, batiste, denim, and tapestry. These clothes combine nicely with each other. They have beautiful texture and a wide range of colors to embody designs. The collection has costumes for boys and girls, for teenagers, and for adults. Some models are braver and more creative and have a complicated design. The others are more commercial and simpler in tailoring. I tried to show the variety of designs for the main subject.
3. What role do you think social media plays in fashion today?
Social media is of great importance for the fashion industry. It allows people to reach a large audience and enable designers to change their art experience. It’s very important for a modern designer not to create in isolation. But to define actual trends and work with projects that would be highly sought; easily sold and would reflect the individual designer’s style. The speed of information spreads is so high today. That social media is a real way for prompt information exchange. The iPhone is an integral part of our everyday life. We receive information in it, order goods, food, listen to music, watch films on gadgets and so much more. The fashion styles we see on our phone screens, involuntarily dictate a certain lifestyle, rhythm, and flair. It broadens our view of the world significantly, making it third-dimensional and connects all world points with an invisible string.
4. Way to reach the showcase of a fashion designer?
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