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It was a real pain getting in touch with a 24-year old Shura Philipova of Shura Gang. As funny as it may seem, the younger the designer, the more arrogant and hard to get they are. Young talents always assume they deserve the best possible attention but in reality, such attitude does not come in handy for them.

 

"The king is going to the war, to the war on the dance floor"

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After trying to reach Shura, short for Alexandra, for the last three months, I finally got a reply from her saying she might meet for a 30 minutes interview in Paris. On the day of our meeting, the creator the brand was not only late for half an hour but also was very problematic to communicate with. The designer appeared wearing a white Nike tracksuit and Beats headphones which haven’t taken off throughout the whole conversation. Shura 'kindly' refused her picture being taken as she said she only allows her friends take pictures of her. 

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“I am originally from Moscow, I studied the history of art in university as I have a creative family, who are dancers at Bolshoi Theater.  After a few years I realized art was not really my thing, so I moved to Paris to study fashion design,” says Shura, “My parents gave me all the support I needed, and yes, including the financial. They sponsor my work even now.”

 

Shura Gang was the name of designer’s graduation collection two years ago. Womenswear for men with a romantic military twist inspired by Vogue Dancing. The first collection debuted in 2016 during Paris Fashion Week under the title «The king is going to the war, to the war on the dance floor».

 

«I am the only person working for my own brand, but I got my friends helping me with the press. I'd love to find people that perceive everything the same way as I do so we could work on cool projects together, have fun,» mentioned Alexandra as she was scrolling through her phone. 

 

"After spending fifteen minutes,

Shura was already running late for another meeting"

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She showed some images of her previous work which was pink silk bombers, white see-through dresses, long black raincoats covered in red stars, recalling the war times as she explained. All worn and modeled by her local guy friends, «My designs are for bright personalities, who are ready to step it up and dance whenever they feel like!».

 

When I asked Miss Philipova about her future plans, she mentioned she’s working on getting in touch with buyers and plans to do a performance this upcoming fashion week. Once she said that, she took out her phone and said she had to go.  After spending fifteen minutes, Shura was already running late for another meeting. So she took her to take away soya latte and went away.