White City

by Karl Jorssen

The two fashion weeks in Belgrade – Jacobs Fashion Selection and the Click-produced Belgrade Fashion Week are putting Belgrade on the map and offering fashion shows in a distinctly Belgrade style

Belgrade is emerging as a fashion center with the two professionally implemented shows offering samples of selected collections in October and April. The spring Jacobs Fashion Selection took place from 1 to 15 April, while the larger, well-executed Belgrade Fashion Week took place from 23 to 29 April. Both fashion shows are normally well-attended and this year’s spring shows were no exception with attendees that included famous actors, musicians, media personalities, people from the arts and even the odd politician attending.

Both Jacobs Fashion Selection and Belgrade Fashion Week are productions of local modeling agencies with Jacobs’ produced by Select model agency and the older and more experienced Belgrade Fashion Week is a production of Fashion Studio Click. Both productions are well supported by media and both domestic and international advertisers.

Fashion shows in Belgrade are a more relaxed affair, less formal than the traditional shows taking place at fashion week in London or New York, however the quality of the production of the Belgrade show has become, over the years, more professional, more polished with our domestic shows learning from previous experiences, having honed the skills of the individuals involved in these productions. But the local show is much like Belgrade itself; laid back, cool, fun. And it has become a must attend event. “In the last few years, maybe four or five years, it’s very important to be seen,” says Irina Kruška, a popular journalist and host on TV Pink who was attending the Nataša Sarić show. She also notices the local flavor of the Belgrade-based event that says a lot about both Belgrade and the atmosphere of a domestic show. “We are all friendly, I don’t know, what can you say about us? We are all friendly and it’s like ‘OK, you are my friend, buddy let’s go drink something.’ Maybe that’s the attitude of these people here,” she said.

The uniqueness of a Serbian show is not lost on some of the people working there either. Marina Djordjević is one the models working Belgrade Fashion Week. She has worked in some of the other markets in Europe and finds Belgrade an interesting place to work. “There are some advantages because [here] they are all people you know and they are warm and friendly,” said the model, originally from Belgrade who can normally be seen on the catwalks in Milan.

Of course any show in Milan or New York or London the male guests would be wearing suits and ties, and women wearing cocktail dresses or something more formal. At a fashion show in Belgrade, the attire of attendees are a much different. Jeans, a jacket, and a casual shirt is usually the standard for the men, and jeans and with something comfortable for women.

Another noticeable difference of the Belgrade fashion show is demographics. Serbia and Belgrade has a young population, differing from shows elsewhere whose participants are noticeably older. The average age of attendees at Belgrade Fashion Week and Jacobs’ would be somewhere around early 30’s. Of course the fashion show in Belgrade is a microcosm for the local population in general, so there is a very good representation of young women – and because of these local demographics the beautiful women are not necessarily confined to the runway.

With the growing popularity of the Belgrade fashion show, these events are becoming a must attend event for both local and foreign residents. It’s also doing much to promote Belgrade and Serbia as a progressive place of arts and culture, for those of us who don’t know that already. Nenad Radujević the Director at Click and the founder of Belgrade Fashion Week says that it provides a good image for Serbia. And the local shows have felt the effects of the global economic crisis it’s not obvious when attending one of the shows. You’ll see no difference from previous years and may actually notice an improvement in the overall production. Working in tough conditions is not a new thing in Serbia. “We’ve had a similar situation a couple of times in our history because we’ve worked in a very bad situation, so this is not something new for us,” says Radujević.

Both shows offer designs from both domestic and foreign fashion houses. The Jacobs’ event had its home venue at the Hyatt, with the show moving to the SKC for some of their other shows with a handful of events at their two-week production taking place at other venues around town. This year Jacobs’ presented collections from designers such as Naturino, Moshino, Emporio Junior, Monaliza and Filip fashion companies while Monsoon Lady, Cotton, Hummel and Gaastra presented their designs at Jacobs’ for the first time. Click’s Belgrade Fashion Week this year featured shows of foreign labels such as Morella, Hugo Boss, Salsa Jeans, Bugatti, Puma and Adidas. The local designs included Nicolas, Irena Grahovac, Dejana Momcilović and Bata Spasojević – one of this year’s more popular shows.

While the fashion show in Belgrade becomes more significant to Serbia from an international perspective, many designers appreciate the opportunity of showing their designs to a local audience. This is the feeling of Bata Spasojević who had one of the best attended shows of the season. “I have always wanted to build my career in my country. I had a lot of offers from abroad. It is nice to get some experience from out of the country but nevertheless I [remain] devoted to my own country,” says Spasojević.