For his Spring 2020 WOS collection, designer Andrey Artyomov mixed his trademark elegance with the outré sensibility of an artist, using a bold mash-up of feminine dresses and structured silhouettes, at times with a boyish appeal. Artyomov continues the label’s signature of uniting art, cinema, and Russian culture. There are nods to American artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and her personal wardrobe. Here, oversized ribbed knit sweaters are hand-dyed in hues of cherry reds and sky blues as an ode to the artist’s watercolors. O’Keeffe’s own modest heels, which Artyomov charmingly refers to as “comfortable sailboats” were the catalyst for WOS’s launch of footwear: cone heel pumps in black and open-toe sandals in shades of seafoam green, cream, and camel. Artyomov’s interest in Americana also ventures into film. The baseball and bucket hats tie-dyed in colors like yolk yellows and grass green mimic the wind-worn cap of Harry Dean Stanton’s character in the Wim Wenders-directed film Paris, Texas.
As always, a deeply personal reference is Artyomov’s Russian heritage. Visible are the nods to Moscow’s greatest subterranean masterpieces, its metros. A photograph taken in the city’s most famous station Kitay-Gorod and its fantastical marble infrastructure has been digitized and printed onto dresses, pants, shirts, denim shorts and jeans. Another homegrown point to note are that the jacket and pant sets are inspired by the Russian Constructivist artist Varvara Stepanova whose uniform designs were known for their functionality and heavy use of geometric shapes. While there are plenty of bold inspirations spliced into the collection, Artyomov artfully reflects the nuances of Russian culture — a pillar feature within the WOS philosophy. The tawny hues of a modernist mosaic from an old government building are intricately braided into a belt. A detail as small as the perforation patterns on a Soviet-era cookie are seen on the cuffs of butter-soft leather gloves.
