Elena Geyder: “Couture is the heaviest niche, and the possibilities of competitors are endless…”

Sophy G is a smart couture that can be worn every day, these are things that you need to reach for, but you will never feel insecure in them. 

1. Elena, tell us about the creation of the brand? Where did it all start?  

The brand is named after my daughter Sofia, and I hope that in the future, the younger generation will bring their fresh eyes, new ideas and give this project even more than I did. At a certain moment, both life experience and professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities were accumulated enough, which resulted in the idea of ​​their own brand even when there were prerequisites for this. The first debut took place with the summer collection in Paris in the summer of 2018, in the Imoni showroom. The debut was successful, because we initially set a fairly high bar. There were, of course, both doubts and small fears, but the confidence that we were going in the given direction overcame some technical issues. 

2.   Collections are created strictly according to the seasons, or do you please your clients even in the off-season?

The modern fashion business model implies structuring collections by season, so we are talking about business. But, a designer is a creative person, and when thoughts and inspiration come, there is no getting away from it. I am happy to make a capsule collection before the New Year and my favorite material is velvet and lace. For me, all times are out of season. I am madly in love with complex fabrics and in order to do everything right, you need insane professionalism. But when you get the result of your labors, it fills you with energy. 

3. It seems to me that there are not so many niche brands in our country, especially such successful ones. Is it difficult to reach such a level and how to keep it?

It will be difficult, it is a huge responsibility and not everyone can stand it. But, I have gone through many stages and trials in my life, therefore, I take such moments very calmly. For me, this is another step on the way up. With each new collection, more and more complex, unusual and interesting images are conceived. Accordingly, you need to not just keep the bar, but strive to rise up. If you stop even for a moment, it is a rollback. Now the competition is insane, and we have the task of competing with serious global brands. Couture is the heaviest niche, and the possibilities of competitors are endless. Working in this area is insanely difficult, but otherwise, I’m not interested. There were also a lot of profitable commercial offers, I tried it and it was absolutely not interesting to me. And I’ll say more for now, no financial advantage will move me away from what I do. Creative people have a certain addiction. I was offered cooperation for mass tailoring, I tried it, spent half a year of my time and did not receive moral satisfaction. There are creators, and there are artisans. I consider myself to be a creator. I respect everyone, all this should be, but everyone has their own choice and their own path.

4. If we talk about your collection, presented as part of Odessa Fashion Day at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art, then it was truly an aristocratic and amazing collection. How many people worked on its creation, and for how long ?

There were 30 exits and about 45 units at the show. In general, the collection was created for six months. We started it at the end of September and showed it already in February. All this work was done by five people. The collection was dedicated to three great Venetians: Titian, Veronese, Cintoretto. Why they? These are the masters of the old school of the High Renaissance. All the basic principles and postulates that were laid down in the era … This gave impetus to several centuries ahead. Since I am an art critic and my main specialization is the Renaissance, this topic is very close to me. A very serious archival work was done to study the structuring of materials and the laying of these draperies. Because the Renaissance extended not only to painting, it was music, architecture, and fashion. The costume was part of this high culture. We took as a basis and tried to reproduce the draperies. The difficulty was that we analyzed old paintings, and we made modern technology. We experimented with different bookmarks. We saw the picture, but we didn’t know how to get it. But, we succeeded and we conquered velvet. We have an experimental studio in Odessa, we make everything in Italian factories, and the brand itself is registered in Dubai.

5. Where would you advise your client (potential client) to dress up in these elegant dresses and suits?

Despite the fact that we work in the direction of niche smart couture, the highlight of the brand is that we offer absolutely wearable items, taking into account all trends, but using couturier techniques. This is called smart couture. For the price, things are much more affordable than couture non-wearable things, but they allow you to plunge into the atmosphere of real couture techniques. The greatest luxury is to wear such a coat every day. Naturally, we will rework things into a modern interpretation, taking into account all the trends. Odessans have an incomparable sense of taste, they are distinguished by their ability to dress and combine things. And I would like that we did not forget this and brought bright and unusual elements into our daily wardrobe. Fashion is responsible for the inner feeling and people are willing to pay for it. 

6. Many global brands create collaborations with equally well-known brands or public figures to attract new customers. In your summer campaign, you shot the French blogger Lutin en Folie in female images. It’s very bold. Are you planning anything else like this?

It was a risk of being misunderstood, but, on the other hand, if we put aside gender issues and turn to pure art, then I think that the experiment was a success! It may not be quite ordinary in our understanding, but by agreeing to it, I removed all gender issues. I was interested in an interesting presentation of the brand, because it was the first collection and it was interesting for us to draw attention to ourselves. When a brand enters the international market, the competition is very high. Even many people unfollowed me on Facebook after the release of this campaign. But I wanted to show that fashion can be different and its perception can also be different. We will not repeat ourselves, next season we will have something new and completely different. We also had an interesting collaboration with a Chinese-born French singer Tracey Tang. Tracey chose for her clip, which was filmed against the backdrop of evening Paris, three evening dresses from our collection. It was interesting for me to shoot for the whole brand non-standard personalities who do not belong to the “pop”. 

7. Sophy G Brand DNA….?

First of all – professionalism, sense of style and a special (own) view of fashion. 

8. In which cities is the brand represented?

Today: Dubai, Kuwait, Miami, Paris, Moscow and Minsk. It is interesting that each region orders completely different models. 

9. Where do you see the brand in 10 years?

Modern, relevant and keeping up with the times. I sincerely hope that my daughter will actively participate in the creation of all collections.