by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night, on The Fashion Show, the designers were asked to come up with an outfit that could be part of Isaac Mizrahi’s upcoming collection.  Everyone was paired up and Lidia ended up working with James-Paul.  Their outfit was not a hit with the judges and they landed in the bottom group.  Lidia was faulted for the fit of the dress and was eliminated from the competition.  Today, she spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about her experiences on the show and what’s next for this up and coming designer.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your design experience prior to coming on the show?
A. Lidia: I've been working in the industry for over 6 years now designing, contemporary women's apparel, accessories and shoes lines for other companies. I specialize in high-end women's apparel and accessories for my own line; working with luxurious fabrics, mixing different textures and having an innovative touch into it with a piece of mind. My collection received numerous awards and recognition such as Fashion Group International, Gen Art, Pitti Filati, WGSN, Riccione Moda Italia, among others. I've invented a process for a leather treatment that I have a patent for, and it has become my specialty. I'm also good in inventing weaving and knitting techniques that have been done a lot in my line, like one of the pieces from my collection that I wore on my elimination episode which got a huge response from the viewers, who would like to have it and have been contacting me for sales.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to do The Fashion Show? Did you think it would help get you exposure?
A. Lidia: I'm always up for new things and challenges in life, I was excited that this could be something very cool, as this is a first season of this show. As a designer with not so established line, I thought it would be a great PR chance and a huge exposure on a national level, and a chance of solid production of my own line. I thought the process would concentrate more on one's individual talent, rather than working in groups or for somebody else and not a drama, because this is the reason I went on the show to express myself and my vision and break the cycle of working and contributing for someone else's vision.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Which designers did you like the best, when it came to the work they put on the runway?
A. Lidia: I'm not looking only to the work that designers produced during the sewing marathon, but I also look for the inner persona of an individual that completes the whole package, therefore I think Keith is really intelligent and sweet person, who stood calm and professional during the entire process, and Reco for his impeccable sewing speed experience despite his cockiness.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Who took the lead on this most recent challenge, where you had to design an outfit for Isaac Mizrahi's collection, you or James-Paul?
A. Lidia: For this most recent challenge it looks to me after watching the show and reading my partners blog, that some of this could have been preplanned, as he describes it throughout the process. He didn't create the piece to go with the main piece of our ensemble where I took the main responsibility. And as a talented designer he should have done a coat that would go with any piece in a wardrobe as Isaac said, which I mentioned in my exit interview on www.bravotv.com. He took a lead in the concept, but not in the execution of it, and I tried to  express my vision through his concept, so it rather felt that I'm designing for James-Paul rather than Isaac.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your biggest concern about the outfit, heading into the runway show?
A. Lidia: That our two pieces clearly did not go together, and I kept asking James-Paul: How do you see this translating to Isaac's mood board.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: The judges were hard on you, saying the outfit was ill fitting. Was that all your fault or did James-Paul have

something to do with the cut and fit of the design as well?
A. Lidia: I was fully responsible for my dress; I don't necessarily think it was ill fitted. Between the shooting process the dress got pulled up before the model went down the runway, probably from either sitting down or going up and down the stairs. The dress sits very smoothly on a mannequin, which you could see on the photo of it on http://www.bravotv.com/episode 7-what-they-wore, by my name. I think the elimination came down to a matter of one's personal taste and style, which makes the opinion of people very subjective, but if everyone would like the same thing then fashion would be very boring.  Moreover, as for the judges, there were more positive and professional responses towards my work on this show week after  week that you can read more about in my blog and Fern Mallis' blog, whom I have great respect for, that we didn't see as much, but made me feel really fortunate that my work gets noticed unlike other contestants. As for a young designer, constructive criticism is truly beneficial and I took it as a positive thing as well, although I don't necessary think that my work would be criticized, like it was on my last episode, in real life working conditions.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How difficult is it to create outfits with such a serious time restriction?
A. Lidia: In the work that I specialize, which is high-end couture, I had never broken a record to create something within 14 or 8 hours from the concept to a finished product to that matter.  It is possible to sew something not so complicated within literally 24 hours when you have your idea already developed, as I actually did something like this once before. But it's extremely impossible to produce a quality piece with an extreme idea when you don't have the sewing speed experience of a professional seamstress, which designers normally don't do in the real world. Also, not being able to conceptualize your idea and be inspired by your research and your surroundings gives no sense for fashion to exist.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What is in the future for you? Do you feel that being on The Fashion Show will help your career?
A. Lidia: I'm being persistent with my goal of establishing my own solid high-end couture apparel line and currently working on a new luxury leather interior home and women's accessories collection. As well as I'm looking for the right people to get interested in it and open new ventures in my career. I think by being on The Fashion Show and making 7 challenges more than just half of this show season, definitely brought my name to be heard and be exposed on a  national level, before you didn't even know who Lidia Amirova was and now you do, that means that my mission on this show is accomplished. Please visit my website to check out my real work at www.lidiaamirova.com.

 

 

The Fashion Show airs Thursday nights at 10pm ET on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)