Q: You are very conscious about the environment. How do you take it into consideration while producing your designs?
A: I am devoted to minimizing waste. I want to do luxury in a smart and transparent way. Our factories and our vendors for our materials are usually Italian, French, and Polish. They are family businesses, multigenerational that have dedicated their lives to their craft.
Q: What inspires your collection?
A: My Fall 2017 collection was inspired by Russian high-society in the early 19th century - their mannerisms, decadence, and social gatherings. I drew imagery from Russian nobility balls, which were accompanied with opera, ballet, and musical performances and were always preceded by elegant invitations drawn by artists.
Q: Can you explain the DNA and identity of the Elena Bobysheva brand? And what you feel that your brand represents?
A: I wanted to create a brand that reflects a slower pace and process: where things are made with care and detail, where tradition is more important than trend, where there is a purpose to every piece, and things are made to last.
Read MoreQ: When did you first know you wanted to be a designer? What in particular draws you to the field?
A: I've always been interested in fashion but when you are a child you don't realize what fashion is or if you can make a career out of it. I certainly didn't know a fashion designer was a job because nobody I knew worked in the fashion industry but my mother and grandmother were seamstresses, so fashion is clearly part of my DNA. I really became enthralled by the industry when I was a teenager. However, I decided to take the cautious path and began to study Business & Entrepreneurship in college…
Q: How did you decide to get into sustainable fashion?
A: It was natural that I applied my own values to the heart of my business because I am a vegetarian and environmentalist in my personal life. I didn't want my label to contribute to the excess the fashion industry produces so I build my business around a sustainability mantra from day one without sacrificing on quality or design. I don't think that ethical standards and high-end fashion should be mutually exclusive of one another...
