Spring 2019 Haute Couture: Ulyana Sergeenko’s Cossak Story

Ulyana Sergeenko is a storyteller. For Spring /Summer 2019, inspired by Nobel prize winner Mikhail Sholokhov's epic novel And Quiet Flows the Don and the eponymous screen adaptation directed by Sergei Gerasimov in 1957 - a story of Cossack women set during the dramatic days of the revolution and civil war in the early 20th century – she took her narrative approach one step further, devising her own movie.

Entitled Sisterhood and directed by Ellen von Unwerth, with a score by Maxim Fadeev, the opus celebrates the power of female bonding in its many forms, inviting women to unite, interact, share their energy and help each other.

Cossack folk costume was the main reference throughout, seen here with Sergeenko’s distinctive nipped waist silhouettes. The unique openwork of traditional Krestetsky stitch run on aprons, scarves and white shirts, while the flowers of the Don valley of Sholokhov turned into embroideries on the sleeves of lace blouses, along the hem of dresses and silk capes. Landscape motifs were woven into aprons and pelerins or embroidered in beads on knitwear. Silk fringes adorn the edges of capes and waist scarves; jacquard blouses are embroidered with vintage lace. Taffeta ruffles soften the strictness of coats.