On August 6, 2022, in front of the medieval Basilica of Our Lady Queen Anglona in Tursi in the south of Italy, Maria Di Anglona and Bianca / Everlasting collections by Polish designer Natasha Pavluchenko will be presented. Both designs come from the artist’s new, timeless fashion line that combines fashion, art and history. The city of Tursi is located in the Basilica region of Italy. Its origins date back to the 5th century and are associated with the Visigothic invasion, led by the legendary leader Alaricus. The area is famous for the production of citrus fruits, including a particular variety of oranges that were brought here by Saracens in 1000. “It is a dream that becomes a reality” – said the designer, when it turned out that both of her art collections will be presented in Italy, in such a unique place. The altar ornaments located in the 11th-century Basilica became the inspiration for the creation of the first project in 2020 under the name Maria D’Anglona. A year later, another collection combining fashion and art was created, entitled Biała / Everlasting, inspired by the decorations of the medieval church of St. Stanisław in Bielsko-Biała. This is the only collection by Natasha Pavluchenko so far, rigorously in white. Both projects, whose premiere shows took place in subsequent editions of the Roman Altaroma, were made at the designer’s Atelier in Bielsko-Biała. The organizer of this event is the City Hall of Tursi, headed by Mayor Salvator Cosma. Confartigianato Lucana, Gal Start 2020, Matera 2019 e APT Basilicata supports the event also. The special guests will be the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Italy, Anna Maria Anders, and the Mayor of Bielsko-Biała, Jarosław Klimaszewski.
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NATASHA PAVLUCHENKO
Fashion designer, illustrator, designer. Polish woman with Belarusian and Ukrainian roots, living in Bielsko-Biała for over 20 years. Her great-grandfather, even before World War I, successfully ran a tailoring workshop in Warsaw’s Old Town. Then fate threw the family to the East, to the territory of today’s Belarus. Natasha began her adventure with fashion at the age of 17. While studying at the Fashion Design Institute of Modern Knowledge in Minsk, she created her first author’s collection. Winning the Smirnoff Fashion Awards in Moscow (2001) allowed her to participate in the international Fashion Show in Dusseldorf, where she was hailed “Discovery of the Year 2002”.
Successive winning contests and fashion reviews have confirmed her talent and craftsmanship of the highest quality, as well as a modern vision of fashion. Natasha’s creations, created in Atelier in Bielsko, were admired in Portugal, Russia, Spain, Germany and Azerbaijan. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Fiat Auto Poland, Pavluchenko designed the interior of the Fiat 500, and her designer furniture designs were well received at the Paris fair. Natasha Pavluchenko dresses film and TV stars, and creates theater costumes. Ewa Puszczyńska, the producer of the award-winning film “Ida” (directed by Paweł Pawlikowski), appeared in her performance at the Oscar gala in Hollywood.
MARIA D’ANGLONA project
After organizing several hundred fashion shows, the designer began to look for new inspirations and forms of expression to vent her creativity. The idea for a new fashion line came to her during her visit to Tursi. After returning to Poland, the designer carefully studied the patterns of local altars, examining them in terms of their origins, colors and history. This is how Maria d’Anglona was created – a timeless collection, opening a new creative line and showing that fashion can be inspired by art and become art itself. “I call this collection a project because I don’t want to restrict myself to the fashion space itself. I wanted to show that a story, which we often do not pay attention to, can be an inspiration for something modern, ”said the designer.
Maria d’Anglona was presented for the first time in Rome in January 2020. The project was supported by the mayor of the city, the local bishop, the Tursi community and entrepreneurs from the region. The effect exceeded all expectations.
AŁA / EVERLASTING
Continuing the started creative line and finding another inspiration in the interiors of the oldest church in Bielsko under the name of st. Stanisława, the designer created a completely new collection during the pandemic, dedicated to the city where she lives and works. “Biała / Everlasting is an unusual collection for me, a surprise in terms of colors. It is a symbol of love, purity and eternity. The color of the collection comes from the name of the city in which I live and create, and it has an extraordinary soul and an amazing history. ” – Natasha Pavluchenko confessed. The collection had its world premiere during Altaroma 2021, as part of the International Couture show in Rome.
“It is a fashion that becomes art and draws from the history of Bielsko-Biała, from the city’s textile tradition, from its architecture, transforms it and shows it to the world. “It’s great that you can also discover Polish history in this way and bring it closer to Italy.”