French-Armenian fashion designer and modeler Karin Arabyan is well-known around the world of fashion. The shoes, purses, jewelry and other accessories are very popular and he makes huge profits in different cities worldwide, including Paris, London, New York, Tokyo…Recently, he also introduced his “Karin Arabyan” brand to women of Moscow.
Karin Arabyan’s ancestors have also been in the fashion world; his grandfather was a shoemaker and his dad took in orders for making costumes. After studying a high-class fashion design school and working with the “Svarovski” and “Chanel” fashion homes, he decided to create his own brand and not only produce accessories, but also, as he says, “dress the woman from head to toe”. During his visit to Yerevan, Karin Arabyan introduced Armenians to his new collection with the main motive of being a free and independent woman. His accessories are comfortable and at the same time elegant. The purses made by Arabyan are elegant and rather durable because they are fashioned for modern women and the purse of a modern-day woman must be large. The woman needs more space to put things in besides cosmetics; she needs to put documents inside the purse as well. According to Arabyan, large accessories outline the woman’s freedom and elegance. At least Madonna is one of the women who purchases the jewelry by Karin Arabyan with pleasure…
– The jewelry that women wear may directly have an influence on our moods. Is it possible for the right chosen type of jewelry to free the woman from such moods?
– You want to make jewelry magical and miraculous. I don’t know, perhaps it’s possible. But what’s important for me is to have the person create a new image through the means of the jewelry and be presentable with that new image.
– Is it possible to change the image of an entire country?
– I have always dreamed of changing the image of Armenia. I work in the “lux” category and I want to make Armenians understand the “lux” concept and creativity. We can tie many things to Armenia, but not “lux”. I want the world to see that Armenia can have a developed economy and produce “lux” products. Armenia has all the prerequisites for that and it’s possible to change the image of the country. Of course, I can’t do that on my own, but I want to help. Armenia is capable of having a well-developed infrastructure, producing starting from the first stage all the way to the last. The “Lux” product is the symbol of a developed and stable country. When you have that kind of product, everyone looks at you differently and the country changes into a more serious and creative image. The image and impression are very important.
– Will you start working with Armenian fashion designers?
– I have been working with them for a while now. I love the work of fashion designer Nur and we may soon produce bijouterie products. Nur is a professional and designs creatively and is a high-quality fashion designer. There are a couple of categories in fashion design and Nur makes the top-class ornaments. In general, Armenia symbolizes three main materials-wood, rock and metal, better yet, silver. I have already created a collection and I have done that by Armenian motives and have used those three materials. I did that with Armenian hand-crafters, I made the sketches of the ornaments, but production took place in Armenia. That collection is already on sale in France, but I still haven’t put up the entire collection on sale; there are some items that I would like to keep for myself because they are very precious. There was a shoe, purse and necklace set in the collection, which was prepared by the masters at Vernisage in Armenia and Madonna purchased that set. It was made out of wood and silver.
– Don’t you want to use the obsidian?
– My next collection is going to include items made out of gold, wood and obsidian.
– It’s the year of Armenia in France. Don’t you think that the events being organized provide opportunities for changing the image of Armenia?
– There are going to be many events; I’m going to present two projects. During the high-class fashion week, which will take place in March in Paris, I will organize a defile along with the very large and well-known pret-a-porter international fashion federation. All the clothes and ornaments, which as I said will be of wood, obsidian and gold, will be prepared with Armenian material and in Armenia. If not the sample in its entirety, but the details will be made by Armenian masters. This will be the first time that the brand “Made in Armenia” will be presented during the fashion week in Paris. I hope that will help advertise Armenia. My second project has to do with designing. The exhibition of the works of Armenian masters will open in April of next year in the Marcel museum and will last six months. I can’t go into further detail about that exhibition because it’s still in the preparatory stage. I must say that the Marcel museum gave me a “cart-blanche”; they told me to do whatever I wanted to do. I want to present Armenia in a way so that everyone gets amazed, so they can see what kinds of modern and high-quality work is being done in Armenia. The head of the Marcel Fashion Museum came to Yerevan with me; I had invited him to the exhibition of my collection, which took place at the National Art Gallery. I had also invited the journalists of four top-rated French fashion design magazines, including “Mari Kler”, “El”, “Express” and “Le Monde”. True, they had come to write about my exhibition, but they decided to also write about Armenian life. Of course, they weren’t able to see and understand many things, but they did have the time to visit Garni, Geghard and Sevan. I really want the French to get acquainted with Armenia.
– Is there such a thing as “victim of fashion”?
– Of course there are victims and many of them. Girls are ready to stop eating as long as they can wear their favorite dress. Many young girls want to be like thin mannequins, not realizing that being a mannequin is a profession and not everyone can have the same physical appearance.
– What’s your impression of the style of Armenian women as you walk the streets of Yerevan?
– In Armenia, many things are tied to the social conditions. Each woman belongs to her social level. There are women who prefer expensive clothing to show how rich they are, but they lose their individuality. We can consider the “victim” in this situation because you can wear anything you want, but you must stay the individual and not make an effort to be just like everybody else.
– For many, the cheap Turkish and Chinese clothing are the only source of new clothing…
– I understand that the social/economic conditions force many to buy items from the fair. I don’t have the right to say that they are doing wrong; I realize that I still can’t sell my products in Armenia because they are rather expensive. But I must say that Chinese clothing differs from one another.l There are some products, which are not Chinese and are simply made in China. Besides the cheap products, China and Turkey have other types of clothing of high-class. For example, Mark Jacobs and Prada prepare all of their products in China. The most well-known shoe designer Mark Jacobs brings the materials from China, puts them together and sells the product as Italian shoes. Carl Lagerfeld’s shirts are sewn in Rumania. So, let’s not underestimate China.
– What’s your advice for Armenian women?
– I’m not a “fashion police’ to say how to dress and how not to dress. It would be better if Armenian women dressed simpler. Armenians like to wear bright and decorated clothing, just like people in the Middle East, however simplicity is much more appreciated and beautiful. There have to be many fashion shows in Armenia, there have to be presentations of new clothing because all of that widens the people’s spectrum. There is no need to go after expensive clothing; it’s necessary to be able to notice that there are very less-expensive and interesting clothes as well. For example, I wear a simple Finnish shirt and I feel comfortable in it. It’s new, comfortable and not that expensive. If the French wear this type of clothing, why can’t Armenians do the same? Good quality and a medium price go together.
– Men mainly design women’s fashion and they dress the woman as they see fit. Isn’t it time to get rid of that monopoly?
– Yes, today men are in charge of fashion design and most of them come up with extremely extravagant designs. But there are also many women with certain projects and they are more successful from the economic point of view. It’s a fact that women are the designers of the best-selling clothes. There are nearly ten “haute couture” fashion homes around the world, which can simply sit and wait for the money from clothing sales to flow in. They simply create an image. “Chanel” and “Valentino” make money by selling their accessories and not clothing.
– How do you imagine the ideal woman?
– First of all, a woman has to be self-confident. She shouldn’t choose clothes to make the man feel good, but rather she should be the first to feel good wearing the clothes she wears. Self-confidence doesn’t mean that the woman shouldn’t be feminine. On the contrary, it outlines femininity. For example, the liberal, self-confident woman should never wear short skirts because they are uncomfortable and don’t let the woman move freely. She also shouldn’t wear high-heeled shoes, which she can’t walk in. The woman shouldn’t dress like that in order to feel feminine and sexual. I’m certain that the woman wearing a mini-skirt wants to say that she’s ready for sex, but deep down inside she doesn’t feel sexual.”