"Oh! Do you like to dress beautifully as well? I’m so pleased to know that. I wonder if there’s anyone who doesn’t?"

I am sitting next to Konstantine Gamsakhurdia’s statue on Paliashvili Street and flipping through my note-pad. To be more precise, I am scratching out the questions and writing down some new ones. What else can I ask her? I can't think of anything else at all.

We have arranged to meet at this very place. I am wearing jeans, tennis shoes and a T-shirt. I thought it was unnecessary to show up in a ceremonial outfit…

Do you think I’ve come here for a date? Absolutely not, I am meeting with several young designers. They are my peers, the Tbilisi girls… What will they be wearing, I wonder…?

Then I hear the mobile ringing…  Where are you? Are you already there? Yes, I can see you… and she is waving to me. I keep looking around, I can see her on the other side of the road and we meet each other.

This is Irina Uchumbegashvili – energetic and easygoing. It’s the first time I’ve seen her. However, it seems to me that we’ve known each other for ages.

I enter the building, then the apartment … Please meet Tato Kapanadze, a friend and a colleague of mine. We work together… Tato seems to be a much calmer person and even slightly shy. Suddenly, I realize that they kind of complement each other…
 
"Are we going to record our conversation on a Dictaphone?"

"Yes, it’s the accepted thing…"

They are students at the Fashion Design Faculty of the Art Academy. They have completed their five-year studies and are currently working on their diplomas.
How did they find themselves in the Academy of Art and, generally, in the world of fashion?

Irina: I could hardly draw at all, but I always loved to dress well, and beautifully. I could stand in front of the mirror for hours or ransack through my mother’s clothes. For me this was the best entertainment I could think of.

Tato: I would sit for twenty-four hours in my grandma’s dusty cellar, digging through the rummage. At times, when I found something there, I would redo it to fit me. They used to call me "Pupala" (an insane woman hero from a Georgian writer’s novel, who wore rugs). I could create something new from the old clothes or go to a party in a stitched dress or in a frock fastened by a safety pin.

Then it became apparent that both girls had a gift for drawing, and this is how they happened to find themselves in the Art Academy…

Since then, they have been drawing, creating sketches, erasing what they have drawn, tearing their work to pieces and upgrading their profession more and more…

The first serious statement:

Irina: It was several months ago that we came to know about the fashion designers contest "Russian Silhouette" to be held in the Sheraton Metechi Palace. The main judge of the competition was a famous Russian designer, Slava Zaitsev. We made up our minds to take part somehow. However, only several days were left before the contest. Tato and I realized that there was no way for us to separately dress five models each in a fortnight. So we decided to join our efforts and present five outfits that we would make together. And we did it. It was a miracle. We worked day and night without any  sleep at all. We kept thinking, materializing our ideas. We tore up an enormous number of sketches. Ultimately, we did manage to create something and called our creative outcome "A synthesis".

Tato: That was our debut, our premiere show. I must say that for the first appearance we did earn good praise. Our models were particularly noted. This was equivalent to a victory. We couldn’t even have imagined that our clothes would merit any attention at all and, obviously, we’ve had no pretensions whatsoever. We were just happy to have an opportunity of taking part in the contest.

Today, Irina and Tato are working in Maka Asatiani’s workshop - mainly on accessories.

Tato: Our teachers used to warn us that one should hold back from doing something rather than doing it badly, because a bad thing tends to easily remain in people’s memory, and if you are unsuccessful, then it is very difficult to earn respect. And another thing, creating a serious model requires a considerable sum of money.
The girls are in the process of preparing their diploma work. That is why they have no intention of putting together a serious show at this point (and for one more reason as well).

Money again (what a strain it is to experience the lack of money all the time).

Tato: If you really want to create something worthy, you do need a lot of money. This means that without money your’re nothing and can do nothing at all. Well, if you are gifted, you’ll manage to create something good anyway, but for the people of our profession you won’t manage to achieve much without money. To make a good piece of clothing, you’ll need good fabric, and a good dressmaker who you’ll have to pay good money. All this turns out to be quite expensive. When you have everything ready, it will turn out that in our country only one or two percent of the customers will be able to afford to buy what you’ve created.

There where we are not now, or foreign countries in all of their glamour.

Irina: Of course, I have the desire to go. I think I’ll be able to learn more and acquire more knowledge abroad. However, I have no intention of staying there till the end of my life.

Tato: Paris was my dream since childhood, and it still is to this day. I’ve imagined that someone might see my models there, become fascinated by them and then everything will change.

Irina: I think you should approach Paris slowly and gradually. I am going to Moscow in September.

How it used to be before and what it is now, or how the attitude of Georgians has changed towards Georgian-made clothes.

Tato: If ten years ago someone would have said that she was wearing clothes made in Georgia, she would have been made fun of, or would have been labeled as  "primitive". But today, if you buy clothes made by a Georgian designer, nobody will say that you are tasteless.

The mood of these girls is changeable just like that of all youth. They have a whole life ahead of them and plenty of time too. Therefore, they can afford to change their intentions, style, and even colours many times (in short, everything depends on the mood).

Irina: Fashion is extremely changeable. I believe it’s boring to work on something standard, one-style clothing. As far as the colour is concerned, it depends what my mood is like. Today I might like black, and tomorrow it might be red. If today I perceive everything in calm colours, tomorrow I might turn everything upside down. Today I might make clothes for Jeanne D’Arc and tomorrow – for a genteel fairy.

Tato: A sketch that you imagine in your mind never exactly coincides with the real thing. When you can physically view your idea, you need to change many details. Sometimes you add something, sometimes you take something out, and what you end up with might appear absolutely different.

What can hardships deprive us of?

 Irina: If you are endowed with talent, lack of power or gas will not interfere with your work… However, if you are willing to create something worthy, you will need "a little bit" of money.

I am curious to know when they feel satisfied with themselves, or when they feel that they have made something good?

Irina: Never, I guess. For a second you might sense success but later this very success will again turn into a desire - the desire which requires an even greater effort from you.

Irina and Tato work together. They are not only friends but also people of the same profession.

Tato: We need to each other’s advice and we never suggest anything bad to each other…

And like all mortals they also have dreams.

"We want to have our own shops, to show haute-couture, to create really worthy fashion designs and never make people remember our creations as something bad."

I switched off my Dictaphone. We continued to chat for a while. Now it was their turn to enquire about my profession…

In short, we shared our stories with one another. And in the end, as it is common for all journalists, I shared their stories with you…

NINO TARKHNISHVILI