Yana Markova doesn’t just make headpieces, but works of art and is showing at London Fashion Week for the first time this season. So we had a chat to Yana to find out more about millenery and what she’s looking forward to at fashion week.
How did you get into millinery?
I worked in a large Russian company as an accessories designer for eight years. When I quit I wanted to create art objects using all the accumulated knowledge. As an accessories designer, I only ever developed designs for bags, shoes, jewellery, but never for headdresses, so I decided that I would challenge myself and create millinery.
Talk us through your design process.
It all starts with an idea; an impression. It could be a flavour, a small detail, a new acquaintance, or a book. A source of inspiration can come from anything. The next step is to identify the materials. I try to understand what kind of material can display my emotion and then I am like an artist; I create the art object.
Your designs are extremely detailed, can you tell us a bit more about how they’re actually made?
I use many techniques including metal casting, engraving, laser cutting textiles, and my work encompasses a lot of handwork. I try to mix technology, that way the resulting pieces look more rich and interesting to explore with the eyes.
As a headpiece designer, you’ve worked with a lot of exciting people, what’s been the most memorable piece to date and why?
I created a headpiece for a popular Russian singer, Nyusha. Swing beams on the crown were 80cm and the weight of the crown reached four kilograms! It was covered with gold dust and I used a lot of Swarovski crystals. It was hard for Nyusha to wear it, but it looked absolutely stunning.
What are you most looking forward to about LFW?
First and foremost, I want to declare myself in the British market. A dream has always been to create headpieces for a luxury brand’s catwalk show and I’m finally getting to do that. That’s right, some of my creations will be on the runway at the Amira Haroon show at Fashion Scout. I am also going to have some of my headpieces on the David Ferreira catwalk show in Lisbon – all of this following pieces being sent to America for a project with Lady Gaga!
I’m also really looking forward to seeing a lot of the runway shows for spring/summer 2018 inspiration, and to seeing some of my pieces on influencers throughout the week.