They're Always Watching: Exploring Soviet Past and Post-Soviet Subversion

farnazdadashi
May 23, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Sep 20, 2023

I regret not having shared this editorial story sooner, a project I had the privilege of styling and directing alongside an incredible creative team in Russia back in August 2021. It's truly mind-boggling to realize that this trip ended up being my final visit to the region before the outbreak of war. The whole experience carries an air of surrealism and bittersweet emotions.

A special shout-out goes to the immensely talented photographer Yaroslav Klochkov for capturing these stunning photos. I am incredibly grateful to Maya Kazenova for her remarkable production skills, and to my assistant Andrew Gutrov for bringing our style vision to life. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Makeup Artist Valerie Vitko and Hair Artist Darya Sevostyanova for their outstanding contributions. Your combined efforts have truly made this project exceptional. Thank you all for your amazing work.

“They’re always watching” is an ode to the Soviet past as much as it explores stories of the new generation of post-soviets who’re subverting culture and beating to their own drums.

Shot on film documentary style, our story follows Lera and Liana as they travel around various brutalist, constructivist, and Stalinist architectural locations including the Tass building, Moscow metro, the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, and dom na nozhkah( house with the legs).

Dressed in an array of provocative emerging and established Russian and Ukrainian designers, the aesthetic has a deeper meaning than what meets the eye as the general attitudes towards sexuality, gender, and self-expression are much more fluid and evolved than what the west perceives. These girls are assertive yet feminine they use fashion as a space to play with gender, power, and the notions of public and private.

Check out the rest of the editorial story here and here

Special thanks to designers, Alisa Kuzembaeva, Alexander Rarutyunov, Void Shoes, Outlaw Moscow, Nob Showroom, ttswtrs, Sorrelle Moscow, Sorry I am not, Charm, sintezia, Atelier Biser, Love goods lingerie, Me dear Petra, and The Empty Industry.