Meetup "Fashion Reality" brought together fashion industry experts at AltSU
The Department of Arts of the Institute of Humanities of Altai State University, together with the first-year undergraduates of the “Art of Costume and Textile” direction, studying in the profile “Fashion and Business,” held a round table “Fashion Reality” with the participation of fashion experts, representatives of local clothing brands, and marketing and design specialists.
This is the third meetup that the Institute of Humanities of AltSU organizes as part of the "Local Fashion Brands in the Fashion Industry" project, implemented under the auspices of the Priority 2030 strategic academic leadership program.
“As part of the meetup, we discussed the prospects for the development of the fashion industry in modern realities - in the post-COVID period and within the framework of the new geopolitical situation. We talked about how the fashion segment of the market has changed after dozens of brands have suspended their work in Russia, what trends are relevant now and in which direction the fashion industry is currently moving," said the project manager, Head of the Art Department of the Institute of Humanities of AltSU, Candidate of Art History, an associate professor Irina Chernyaeva. "Our project is actively supported by Director of the Institute of Humanities Larisa Nekhvyadovich and Head of the educational program “Art of Costume and Textile” in the profile “Fashion and Business” Ksenia Melekhova. It is also important that we have a useful practical result of the project implementation - the creation of new creative collaborations between representatives of the fashion business of Altai Krai and our students. Thus, the direct interaction of the creative youth of the Institute of Humanities with enterprises and organizations of this industry contributes to the birth of new creative and relevant projects.”
The main speakers of the round table were: Director of the Avangard clothing factory Margarita Kropotina, a fashion analyst and image stylist Marina Vorobyova (Novosibirsk), CEO of the Internet promotion and Miranit advertising agency Alexander Golantsev, a fashion designer, founder of the school of sewing and designing clothes "No. 11 school" Natalya Mikhailova.
In particular, Alexander Golantsev, CEO of Miranit, told about the peculiarities of marketing in fashion and the need to use analytics services to learn and analyze specific areas of business. He also spoke about pros and cons of marketplaces, the strategy for bringing fashion products to these markets and the tools for working on these Internet sites.
Margarita Kropotina, Director of the Avangard clothing factory, noted that one of the advantages of such events is communication with young people, especially those who are creative and understand the peculiarities of the fashion industry. According to her, when working for a mass consumer with large volumes of production, it is not always possible to latch onto a new trend in fashion, and the meetup organized by the Institute of Humanities of AltSU helps to fill this gap.
“Young people are in great demand at our enterprise now. We need young promising craftsmen, constructors, designers, garment production specialists. Today we suffer from a lack of labor force of about 70 people, and participation in such events often helps us solve pressing issues, including human resources,” Margarita Kropotina emphasized.
“By implementing the project “Local Fashion Brands in the Fashion Industry,” we strive to unite people who develop their own fashion brands, who successfully promote their product through social networks and websites, help them develop digital competencies and popularize their brand in the Siberian market. The current trend towards import substitution makes our meetings especially relevant, as they help to find promising young Russian fashion designers and involve them in the process of creating fashionable brands of clothing and textiles for regional manufacturers,” summed up the Director of the Institute of Humanities of AltSU, Doctor of Art Criticism, Professor Larisa Nekhvyadovich.
It is worth noting that the Institute for the Humanities of AltSU successfully held several city-format meetups in the field of the fashion industry in 2021 and 2022. The first event was dedicated to local fashion brands in the fashion industry, and the second one was dedicated to the fashion inside. The meetups included a discussion of the main problems that brand creators and stylists face in their work, including in the context of import substitution.