The Who’s Next international fashion salon in Paris was established some 30 years ago and it has proven itself as a leading forum for discovering of new trends in clothing and accessories outside high fashion spheres. Thanks to the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency Bulgarian designers had /and not for a first time/ the pleasure to present themselves there at the beginning of July. They were spotted and assessed and many returned with new clients and orders.

We will introduce two of them: avant-garde jeweler Petar Arbov and young fashion designer Valentina Antonov.

Petar Arbov has been with the branch for 25 years, as he has gone through different art periods. Right now he tends to add to his production parts of old watches, digital phones cameras etc. It all makes it look like the vintage style.

“I used to work with gold, brilliants and other precious materials before. However, I gave up, as gold attracts a bit different people that I personally don’t feel attracted to,” the jeweler says. “For instance, silver provides greater artistic freedom. My latest works are created with imagination only. The materials are accessible, the investment is much smaller and it is all left to the maximum of imagination. I disassemble old watches, cell phones, cameras, typewriters etc., which are usually forgotten and thrown away somewhere. I combine their elements in different designs of silver, brass, copper and some quite interesting stuff occurs.”

How did people see his works at the exhibition?

“I have been imposing this style for 5 years. At the same time it is turning into a global trend. I expect it to reach the top within a year or two. When industry takes it and chews it, we will have to look for something new. I am really happy with this exhibition, since I found new clients. One really gets energy at such places, with new ideas coming from what he sees around.”

Arbov has also participated in the Milano exhibition of a similar kind, but in his opinion Paris is the most significant forum in the sphere.

Paris is the city, where young Bulgarian Valentina Antonov used to study and live. She is not a designer, but a fashion journalist. The contact with the best designers revealed to her the secrets of the branch and she gradually got brave enough to start working on her own. Valentina now works in Bulgaria along with other two colleagues of hers. “I have always carried design inside, but I hadn’t unlocked the door for my imagination and will to work,” she told us. A French fashion journalist determines the style of her Mera brand as “a successful interweaving of evening clothes into everyday ones”.

“It is for every woman, who loves herself and doesn’t have fears to express herself via emotions. This style should make her feel beautiful and strong across the whole day and not only in her full dress. We live our everyday life without many explanations and words. A woman, who wants to express herself in front of the people that she communicates through the day with, can now rely on clothes, which will reveal her energy, aura, temperament and spirit. Our style is simple, minimalist and expressive at the same time.”

Valentina Antonov is charmed by the nice and open communication with her colleagues at the Who’s Next forum in Paris, as the concept of such events is useful acquaintances to be made there.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev
Photos: personal library