Haute Couture

For her second couture collection, Spring–Summer 2013, shown that January, Ulyana Sergeenko built a fantasy world drawn from American literary classics. Its central idea: Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind imagined travelling into the Soviet Union, with nods to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Wizard of Oz.

The collection quoted the fashions of the nineteenth-century American South: the runway was dominated by voluminous-skirted dresses, cinched corsets and straw hats. Ironic accessories underscored the theatricality of the concept — a slingshot worn at the waist, a nod to Tom Sawyer.

Despite its American theme, the collection's soul remained Russian: elaborate pieces were built using Vologda lace, antique Krestets whitework, gold-thread embroidery and freshwater pearls. The Russian code also showed through in countless other details — clutches embroidered with scenes from folk tales, hand-painted porcelain buttons. For this collection the House turned for the first time to the legendary milliner Stephen Jones, beginning a collaboration that would continue for years to come.