Interview with French Fashion designer Angela Shapovalova. "Fashion 2G" FW 23/24. Collection Alumina

Angela SHAPOVALOVA - luxury elegance, femininity and innovations. 

The well-known French designer Angela Shapovalova and designer and artist Gerald Fleury on the eve of the Paris Fashion Week invited their devoted clients and followers to the fashion show where Angela unveiled the new collection "Fashion 2G". 

In this captivating performance, which took place in the special and very well-known among Parisian bohemia place - Villa Dix Neuf. Surrounded by amazing pictures of art photographer Patrick Magic, two talents combined in harmony. 

As always, the performance was a celebration of art, style, chic and elegance. The pampered public was impressed by the hand-selected choice of the fluttering silky materials, extra attention to the details, and, of course, the talent of the couturier and the artist. 

We made the decision to take advantage of the chance to get to know the designer better and ask few questions.

First of all let me thank you for inviting me to your amazing show and congratulations you with the stunning collection. Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your new collection? 

Thank you for coming and your attention to our collection! Our collection combines two diametrically opposed worlds. On the one hand it has femininity, lyricism, lightness, and transparency and the harsh world of "the men from the car" on the other. 

Gerald used to be a race car driver and work in the automotive design industry. He also competed in Formula 3. Do you recall the film Driver? In my opinion this film surprisingly captures the essence of our collection. As a result, the soundtrack from this film perfectly captures the inner universe of our collection. The seductive and tender female vocal in the song surrounds the metal-like tone of the song's male voice. What binds us? A big dream. Both of us are big dreamers.

How did you get the idea to collaborate with Gerald Fleury? Could you introduce him to us?

You know, this is a funny story. Gerald and I met us last year in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival. Gerald was one of the guests on my Fashion show I held there. After the show we had a little chat with him. 

I didn't take this meeting seriously in any way, despite Gerald's many complimentary remarks regarding my collection. A month or so later he called me and proposed to meet for a coffee, but I declined. You know... guys constantly ask me to meet, but I usually don't have the time.

A while ago, Gerald sent me an email with his design works and a proposal for a creative collaboration. His work impressed me very much and aroused a great deal of interest in me. 

At the same time I was also offered to join the project of my friend entrepreneur - Director of the School of Artificial Intelligence Jean Roger Siquilini. I was asked to design a dress based on the "Digital" theme. Although I was interested in the project, I was short on ideas at that time. I wrote an email to Gerald saying I'm ready to collaborate if he can come up with a design idea for the dress based on the Digital theme. The next day, Gerald called me with a bunch of cool ideas. One caught my attention: an arobase-shaped metal corset. Our first Arobase dress was born thanks to digital, thanks to email, and therefore thanks to Arobase itself. Essentially, the dress Arobase symbolises what is called "digital". Connecting people is what digital is all about. It's an absolutely amazing story in my opinion! We made this dress together. Gerald is a very talented person and he is also very well known as a creator of unique, artful and exclusive furniture and mirror frames.

You initially studied at the "Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne". Did you always know that you wanted to be a fashion designer, and was there a particular person or designer that inspired you on your journey?

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved making dresses. When I was a child, my family lived on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is in the Russian Far East. It is a very beautiful place and there are a lot of volcanoes, earthquakes, and floods. 

As you can see, this place is very far from Paris and fashion. When I was 8 years old it was difficult to buy different fabrics and there were not many sources of inspiration. The temperatures on Kamchatka are very cold and most women dress comfortably and warmly, but not very attractively. 

I pretty often secretly got my mother's summer dresses and cut them into pieces. I sewed them into extraordinary masterpieces as I saw it to be, but as a result, I always made my mother angry. 

After school I graduated with honours from a sewing school and then from the Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogics Academy in Kharkiv. After that, I began working as an engineer at a garment factory, then as a teacher at a sewing school. But I really missed creativity in my job. And I began to dream of studying at some design school abroad. 

Fate prepared a surprise for me: I met a student from Paris. His father worked for Pierre Cardin. We became friends and he invited me to France and helped me enter the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. I was on cloud nine.

What is your favourite piece from the collection? Arobase? 

Certainly! Well, you already know this.

What are your hopes for the future of your brand, and where would you like to be in the next two years?

Me and Gerald would like to work for women who are not afraid to be unique and who like to dress not subject to fashion but "in their own way". The clothes from "FASHION 2G" are only made according to bespoke measurements. Because my main concept is emotional dresses, each metal piece is handmade for a client based on her morphology and wishes. It's high couture and "Haute welding" and our clients should be prepared for the noise of metal during the fitting. 

Could you please give some tips to our readers how to choose the right evening dress and wish them something from yourself?

Our customers not only choose them, but also participate in the creation of their garments. Having a dress that expresses clients emotions is important to us. Our real satisfaction is to be able to express the hidden desire of our customers, through our creation.

Can you tell us more about the platforms where we will find you and purchase your wonderful dresses? Can one ask you to make an individual order?

If you would like to order a custom dress please contact us at +33973614802 or call us at mobile phone +33617973793 or write us an email [email protected] . Our dresses are not sold online or in stores. We make one-of-a-kind, custom-made pieces. You can have a look at the examples on Instagram: @shapovalovaangela @geraldfleury.gefl

In taking this opportunity, we would like to thank everyone who helped us organise this show as well as our dear guests.

Photos: Elma Foto, Ko Kok, Laurent Rosemain, Marveloos Photos, Marc Bruno Leclerc, Vincent Shango 

Text: By Senior Fashion Editor 24FashionTV: Christina V Henningstad @christina_henningstad

24FashionTV - VUGA Enterprises Media Group originally published at 24FashionTV - VUGA Enterprises Media Group