She is one of my favorite Macedonian designers and easily one of my favorite people. That should leave me biased to talk about her work. Then again, her work speaks volumes about her. It’s been almost a month since I saw her latest runway show at 14. Fashion Weekend Skopje. As impressed as I was, the desire to wait for the rounding up of her new fashion story was stronger, so I waited for the official launch of the lookbook by Miladin Papovic in Wonderlust concept store to tell you the story about a Firebird. The new fall/winter line by Irina Tosheva was her 10th presentation at FWSK and in that spirit, the pieces were somewhat an homage to her work throughout the years. As the colourful creations flowed on the runway I could see her signature cuts, her playful lines, her unbreakable spirit unravel in a fashion story that was a “classic Tosheva” and at the same time a display of a new, even bolder expression of her artistic vision. But, I’m going ahead of myself.
Let me tell you why Firebird touched a cord with me even before I saw the line, just by knowing the title, and how the story was completed in my head as the last model strutted the runway. When I first came to Skopje as a student, the first performance I saw by the Philharmonic Orchestra was Firebird by Igor Stravinsky. I can still remember the excitement, the thrill, the awe of listening to this masterpiece live for the first time in my life. Sitting on the edge of my seat, I was mesmerised by the palpable magic of the music being created there and then. More than 10 years later, I had that same feeling when I saw Tosheva’s Firebird and this time I had the added pleasure knowing that a Macedonian designer, who happens to be a dear friend of mine, did her own jubilee masterpiece and once again impressed her equally colourful audience and tickled our fashion senses, leaving us wanting more.
Photos: Miladin Papovic Photography//Video: Backstage Magazin
Vezilka 