Vika Smolyanitskaya - designer, artist, photographer, author and founder of lines of clothing such as; My Lovely Age, Vika Smolyanitskaya and Poison & Pinky. Victoria was born in Moscow. At an early age she graduated from Moscow Academic Art School which was a start towards the development of her artistic potential. In 1998 Vika graduated from the Law School. Vika Smolyanitskaya line is an avant-garde mix of artistic vision and glossy modernity for those who love to be  the center of attention. Designer is inspired by the street art of cities like New York, Los Angeles and by art work of Roy Lichtenstein and  sculptor Marisol Escobar.

J: Where do you find inspiration for making of new collection?

V: Inspiration always comes from an emotion! My emotions live within me and move in time. It could be memories, some vital points in life. What I see;  architecture, contemporary art, cinema, people, their history-all this in its entirety forms a certain image and the desire to create a kind of formalization of my ideas and my perception. I am inspired by the strong and beautiful women, who are not ashamed of their feelings and emotions. Look at the Warhol characters - they always attract attention! The heroine of our collection is strong, sassy and sexy woman. Her facereflects her mood: passion, resentment, love, desire and despair. Thus, through drawing, through her character, I try to express the perception of human relations, which are the main idea of my collections.

Photos by Lauri Levenfeld Fashion Photographer & Founder of THE WOMENS PROJECT . The Womens project is a global, creative forum bringing together women as a community to teach, share and inspire

J:  Describe your creative process.

V: The moment of creating clothes for me is a very important and exciting process! We have a team and it is very important that people who are in my team are on the same page with me! First comes the idea, then there is a thumbnail-sketch. Next, we draw the model on the computer program, that is to make the primary template. Almost all our models have unique prints. In parallel the graphic designer and I draw and place a pattern on fabric and then on the future product. After that sample of the fabric goes for production and we work on the primary sample. As a rule the majority of primary samples need to be corrected, it is very rare when we guess all proportions and placement on the fabric. Either model is necessary to correct or we have to clarify print. On average, the production of one product from the point in the sketch-output model to readiness in the mass production takes from 3 days to a week.

J: Who are your teachers and authority in fashion?

V: It's hard to name just one. Most likely it is a kind of mix of styles and images, and even a temporary space, collections of various well known designers in the fashion world and beyond.

J: Where and how our readers will be able to buy designs from Vika Smolyanitskaya?

V: Our designs can be purchased through our online store www.smolya.com

Photos by Lauri Levenfeld Fashion Photographer & Founder of THE WOMENS PROJECT . The Womens project is a global, creative forum bringing together women as a community to teach, share and inspire