Volga Volga

[underdog]

I was on the Volga Volga site back in December and noticed a comment about a sample sale going on, ending right about when I read the notice. Seeing that I contacted them asking about being notified of other sales and received the below response that I thought might be of interest to some here:

"we will have 2ed bargain sale for spring/summer in February, but we have not decieded exact dates. please check our HP in February.
these bargain sale are speclal event before moving our atelier. maybe it's the first and the last one.

at the new place, we will have shop space and plan the events with music, art...etc.....
we will inform them on our facebook page little by little."

[mikemikemike]

i recently had the opportunity to visit the Volga Volga atelier space in the Agata building.
what a wonderful experience it was. the workshop selection was very interesting and they had items from many previous seasons. mr panteleev and the entire staff were very friendly attentive and quick to accommodate my queries. mr panteleev would freely comment on the construction of any piece i was looking at and the fabric used.

i asked what was his inspiration for new seasons and why the collection is so difficult to find online and in other countries. he answered me that his approach is to typically find interesting or new fabrics and then working to make something from them to shape the seasons look, utility being important it seems. as far as the stockist, mr panteleev had mentioned that the shops that carry the brand change often and not always carry the lines every season. for obvious reasons, russia seems like a popular location for shipments.
mr panteleev also talked about the difficulties of employing the hopeful people (many from russia as he noted) to work under him due to the rigid work visa system in japan. as mentioned by many before he himself said that the only reason he was able to work in japan was due to an invitation from mr yamamoto to work on the runway pieces for Yohji Yamamoto. the brand overall is done mostly in the area of the atelier for dying and leather work.

i was able to pick up a couple of pieces at generous discount from previous seasons and i suggest anyone able to check out the selection as they have many items (like an object dyed jacket ) for more than 40% of original price. however, the items like at most japanese shops are more centered between the 44-48 size crowd.
what a wonderful experience it was. below, are some pictures of the space and items.

[Chinorlz]

awesome report and photos! I feel like VV is super underrepresented and/or the pieces that show up on the sales/secondhand market are too weird and awkward.

Alan Bilzerian carries his stuff (or at least used to) and when it's good, it is GOOD. Incredible fabric usage/combinations with really awesome tones and textures. Looking at that those showroom images it looks like he isn't afraid to go nuts with colors. A concise and curated buy would result in a pretty strong collection with nice tones and textures... something that harkens back to Altieri's heyday but evolved and further refined.

[Faust]

I've stopped liking it after he took to the casual direction. Coupled with the fabrics he uses it's become way too dowdy.

[mikemikemike]

when did that happen faust? couple of seasons ago or so? the backstock seems to still have a variance to the style direction but what you describe is predominant at least the last 3-4 seasonal collections.

[Faust]

when did that happen faust? couple of seasons ago or so? the backstock seems to still have a variance to the style direction but what you describe is predominant at least the last 3-4 seasonal collections.

I'd say 3-4 years ago. It used to be more structured and streamlined.

[monster]

Several days ago I received an old and beautiful piece by Volga Volga and was so impressed by the design and the craftsmanship behind it that I can't help but share the impressions here. Maybe it's not the very appropriate place to do so, because there weren't a ton of such posts here recently, but I remember good old days, when we had a lot of single piece's discussions here and thanks to them I was so hooked on clothes design. Since then I still mostly appreciate raw, DIYish, painstaking vibe of artisanal clothes, and in the perfect world these could be the garments I made myself.

The jacket made of a raw, harsh cotton, single layered and partly unlined, it gives a nice, vague impression of being a jacket and a shirt at the same time.





Iconic dyeing by Pantleev provides the surface with a beautiful semi-finished texture.





The jump from dyed to undyed surface executed intentionally clumsy.



Buttons.



Flappers end at the very top of the back and fixed by two flexible straps at the waist, one of which goes from the inside out.



Inner pockets: patchpocket and two mortise pockets.



Stitches decorated with leather straps.



Detachable ribbon under the collar.



Hope, somebody will find this interesting or even inspiring. Unfortunately we don't have Volga Volga thread in the archives section and this piece is sort of too rich with details for recent purchases thread. And, as we all know, the devil is in the details.

[lowrey]

thats cool

looks like some sort of a paint/coating finish, not a dye

[monster]

Lowrey, you are probably right. To my shame I'm not very familiar with the terminology and correct definitions.

[Faust]

Misha keeps quietly working in Tokyo. He still produces interesting things. He's just bad at selling them. If enough people are interested, I definitely have access and could write a piece for StyleZeitgeist magazine.

[monster]

I paid Misha a visit during my trip to Tokyo last year. One of the most intelligent, passionate and brightest persons I've ever met in my whole life. True genius and poet. I was following his work since 2006 and till today he is one of the favourite designers, if not the favourite one, and there are criminally few insightful materials about him out there, so such an article could be very valuable.

[Faust]

Ok, I made a note in my to do file :-)

[mikemikemike]

Ok, I made a note in my to do file :-)

stopped by the other day and had a word with mr. Pateleev, nice to see this progression. Talking with him looks like a lot of exciting things coming up many tied to your visit faust. cheers!

[Faust]

stopped by the other day and had a word with mr. Pateleev, nice to see this progression. Talking with him looks like a lot of exciting things coming up many tied to your visit faust. cheers!

Yes, I am working on a profile and they will be coming to Pitti Uomo this time.

[Faust]

VOLGA VOLGA: THE DESIGNER'S SEARCH FOR MEANING