Playing with fashion

The fourth day of the professional designers' segment of Creations 2007 featured collections by Bulgarian designers Neli Mitewa and Youlian Tabakov. The show held in South Village, level three of BurJuman, was fun, funky and refreshingly creative.

Playful

The first collection, designed jointly by the two long-time friends, was titled Game-A`-Porter. It took a playful look at fashion while giving a fashionable twist to sportswear. Inspired by tennis, the garments were predominantly white with touches of black and splashes of bright red.

Looking sporty and smart, the models came out in tennis shoes and long white socks. The garments they wore ranged from T-shirts and short dresses to long skirts, trousers and gowns. Sketchy outlines of faces with exaggerated and strategically placed red lips and twinkling eyes, panels draped around the neck as stoles, twisted into belts, flowing down the back or connecting the trousers and tops created a sense of fun, movement and freedom.

Rollicking time

The playful element also came through in the choreography by Kristian Al Droubi and the casually curled hairstyles done by Aroushi. The models hopped, skipped and jumped on stage, licked lollipops and enjoyed showing the audience how easily they could change the look of the garments by playing with the panels, hemlines and folds. Short sporty dresses were quickly transformed into elegant evening gowns and even the wedding gowns could be worn in different ways.

"The concept behind this collection was to create garments that are comfortable and can be transformed to suit various moods and occasions. I have also experimented with the idea of creating fabric accessories that are part of the garment but can be draped in many different ways. Youlian's artistic sketches provided the perfect touch of drama and fun to this collection," said Neli.

Knitwear

The designer also showcased her latest line of knitwear. This included smart casual dresses and skirts in a vibrant palette of verdant green, soft pink and aubergine. The slim silhouettes were accented with horizontal stripes, spaghetti straps around the neck and ruffles along the hem. Once again there were lots of flowing panels and knitwear accessories such as necklaces, belts and scarves. A few strategically placed tears and runs in the dresses provided an interesting touch.

'Happy to be here'

"I decided to specialise in knitwear because it gives me the opportunity not only to design the garments but also the fabrics and patterns I use. I took inspiration from the runs that appear in stockings to create the 'controlled' runs in my dresses," said Neli. Both designers enjoyed their first showing in Dubai. "We are happy to have been invited to showcase our work alongside other well known designers and would love to come again," said Tabakov.

The designers

Youlian Tabakov is from Sofia, Bulgaria. He has studied art and sculpture in Sofia, London and Paris and is now based in Stockholm. He specialises in stage and costume design and has won many awards for his work including the Smirnoff Fashion Award 1998.

Neli Mitewa studied fashion design in Sofia and Trier, Germany and is now based in Sofia. Her label 'Nelmit' specialises in knitwear. Neli has won many awards for her work and qualified for the finals of the Grand Prix International Fashion Design Berlin 2003 and the Smirnoff International Fashion Award 1999.

About Creations

Creations 2007 is organised by Dubai Shopping Festival in association with BurJuman. While the first segment featured promising young designers from the region, the second segment, which began on January 25, features professional designers from Europe, the Middle East and the sub-continent.

The fashion fiesta, which runs till February 1, features daily fashion shows at BurJuman from 7.45pm onwards. The shows are choreographed by Kristian Al Droubi from Serbia. Dubai-based salon Aroushi has styled the hair of the models, while MAC has done the make-up. DJ Sash has provided the music for the event, which is managed by Emirates Vision.