Oksana Fedechkina: “We are a kind of catalyst between the Italian market and the CIS market.”

1. Oksana, how did your story start in Milan?

I have been working in the fashion industry for 20 years, since 1996. This year is our anniversary. During all this time, we have seen the rise and fall of so many brands during the development of the market. It all started with a small agency, because it was the 90s after perestroika, when the market was just emerging. Customers came here with large suitcases of money and wanted to buy absolutely everything that was offered to them. And just as in Ukraine and Russia practically no one spoke English, then there appeared such figures as agents who offered new brands, helped with payment, shipment of goods. That is how we started to develop the market little by little. Our history is very rich, in 20 years we have gone from an agency that was engaged in mediation to a distributor in the market.

2. Now in Milan is the sales season and the work is in full swing. Do you manage to take time to relax?

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no time for weekends. We have been working without rest for several weeks, from early morning until late at night, including Saturday and Sunday. But we are only glad that, despite the crisis, we have many clients and we value each of them. We will rest outside the sales company.

3. What brands are represented in your showroom and what other brands would you like to add to your assortment?

Our show-mind selection concerns designers who are not yet well known in our market. We are a kind of catalyst between the Italian market and the CIS market. We present new, young, creative designers who have good production. Of course, we know that customers from Russia and Ukraine also react to world famous brands. Therefore, this season we present the Ballantyne brand – this is primordially Italian cashmere. We have the brand Cacharel, all customers are familiar with it. Introducing a real boom – the PARAJUMPERS brand. Everyone wants it, all boutiques sell this brand. And plus there are brands that conquered the market in one season – One Italian Theory. Cristiano Burani is also represented, he was presented at fashion week. We have the hottest brand right now – One Teaspoon. These are the most fashionable jeans

4. Oksana, a large number of people work with you. How do you manage to control and distribute work?

In fact, our control is not so strong, because we work on self-discipline. Each of our employees, and these are eight brand managers, are very conscious and professional. And you do not need to run after anyone and control all his actions. Of course, on the selection of clients, everyone consults with each other and with me. We do not work for a single brand, but for one big basket. Therefore, each new and regular client is dear to us and it has even become our Instagram hashtag. With us, in practice, it does not happen that a client comes and chooses nothing. We work from sport chic to pret-a-porter and contemporary.

5. What are your favorite brands? What do you like to wear in everyday life?

I love a lot of things, and most importantly – comfortable clothes. I love beautiful dresses, but I choose more casual style, which is more pleasant and comfortable in everyday life. It can be trousers and a cashmere sweater or a very comfortable dress. Unfortunately, I cannot come to the sales company in jeans, but when it ends, I gladly put them on. I love ripped jeans washed out with torn T-shirts. But, nevertheless, there is still an opinion that the director should be dressed more formally.

6. You, as a person who knows firsthand about all fashion trends, what can you advise fashionistas to wear this spring?

It’s all very individual. Each person chooses his wardrobe based on what he likes, what is comfortable in. If you like a romantic style, then a person will never wear minimalism. It’s very difficult to advise. But I am sure that the hit of this season will be bright, sunny colors, tasty and appetizing prints. In the summer sales campaign, we sold out the collection of the One Italian Theory brand with a bang.

7. Many young girls and boys dream of working in the fashion world, and even more so in Milan. Is it easy to get into your team? How do you select employees?

It is not so easy to get to us, because we take people with experience. So that our employees already have an idea who customers are, what they like, what to advise and how to work. We had cases when people came to us who were sellers in other stores and we accepted them, and even buyers who used to come to us “with a crown” and then plucked up the courage to move to Italy. We currently have one such employee. The most important thing is the human factor. One of the main requirements is knowledge of the Russian language. Because if you can’t convey the DNA of the collection to the client correctly, then, of course, it is difficult to sell it.