ANALYSIS OF STYLE

Murad Veliyev is a young, bright stylist from Azerbaijan. His works have been promoted by Esquire Turkey, Esquire Singapore, Cosmopolitan Turkey, Schon Berlin and Elements New York. One of his most recent works was for the Russian magazine Elle, where he and other members of the project have demonstrated how modern and ancient Baku could be. Today Murad told us about his creativity and revealed some details about what was going in Azerbaijan's fashion industry these days.

"How did you choose your profession? When did you realise that you wanted to do styling and design professionally?"

"My entry into the fashion business is directly associated with the British singer Amy Winehouse. I was about 15 years old and was all in preparing for my college exams. On that day I was sitting behind my desktop with my back to the TV set, and then I suddenly heard ‘Back to Black’. I turned round and was astonished to see Amy singing thi song. I was amazed how vividly and colourfully one could express herself through music and image. That’s when I clearly realised that clothes are a way of expressing character and his inner world."

"Tell us about your journey to the fashion industry."

“I am 25 years old with over ten years of experience in the business. I started as a model, then began writing about fashion. After studying at the Istanbul Fashion Academy as a fashion editor, I entered straight into the business. I love it very much. I work almost around the clock. To keep up with this tempo, it’s important to realise that fashion is not a job for me. It is a way of life! (Laughs).”

"What kind of experience did you get in Turkey? How did this influence your career?"

"Istanbul helped me to become the person I am today. Apart from the nerve cells I lost there, I gained a lot. And I wouldn't give this interview to you today had it not been for the international projects I was involved in Turkey. Turkey is one of the prominent countries in the textile industry and is not far behind Italy and France in terms of its reach in the fashion industry. My works have been published in fashion magazines in Tokyo, Paris, Berlin and Dubai. In Turkey I had a chance to work with local celebrities such as Sezen Aksu, rapper Azhele. I will always be grateful to Istanbul for both my professional development and my career as a stylist."

"What is helping you to improve now?"

"People. I am always inspired by people. Society and its diversity is where I get my ideas from. Isn’t it possible that the coexistence of so many different individuals in the same place over millennia inspires us?!"

"On your YouTube channel, you’ve published a set of videos on style analysis. I wonder how you assess the established national style? What elements make it different from foreign styles?"

"With the development of the internet, we can follow the world's fashion carefully. People look neat and stylish, they become familiar with trends. If we add to this the maximalism brought along the Russian and Arab cultures, we can talk about an established local style. This can be seen most clearly in women's make-up trends."

"Who or what do you think fosters a sense of style or taste?"

"Throughout most of the 20th century, the main trendsetters were designers themselves, reacting to changes in society. For example, after the Second World War Christian Dior realised that women should be given something to replace boring and moderate suits. Inspired by the wonderful period of corselets, in 1947 he invented his famous ‘new look’ silhouette (narrow shoulders, thin waist, puffed skirt). In the 1960s, as a response to the mood set by ‘baby boomers’ the fashion industry made a sharp turn away from ‘new look’ and stately gowns towards mini skirts, bright colours and geometric cuts.

“By the late 1990s, when fashion became a giant industry, it became clear that brands needed dedicated analysts who could predict whether or not the brand's customers would want to wear floral-print trousers next season. Fashion companies began to use the services of forcasting agencies (trend forecasters), some of which only do fashion analysis. Trend Union, WGSN and LS:N Global are some of these trend-setters. Their responsible for collecting information from how big-city residents dress to the planned exhibitions in museums. They use this information to make predictions about the future of fashion: colours, fabrics, cuts and styles that will be relevant in the coming years.

“Almost all brands now use trendbooks - special catalogues of fashion trends for the next year or even five years. Recommendations from these agencies can be as specific as 'punk revival' or as general as 'nostalgia for the past in an increasingly unstable global environment'.

“In general, fashion and psychology are parallel phenomena. One accepts oneself as much as he stands out from the crowd by presenting himself the one he is. That is the point when the concept of "individual style" emerges. In other words, you can be unfashionable but have your own style. Style is not synonymous with fashion. It's an image that sets you apart from everyone else. The same turtleneck and jeans of Steve Jobs are style. Bright clothes and eccentric accessories of the 99-year-old designer Iris Apfel are also an example of style. Again, style is a way of expressing one’s personality through clothes. It can intersect with fashion. You can wear your favourite second-hand leather jacket with trendy trainers. Or categorically deny it - anti-fashion, when one deliberately dresses as if he had randomly pulled the clothes out of a pile on the floor or shopped around.”

"Today style is taught by bloggers who are not professionals at all. But people trust their opinions and follow their advice. What can this lead to?"

"Bloggers have become an integral part of our lives. That is the reality. The thing that worries me more is the uniform style of all bloggers and the promotion of this uniformity. Unfortunately, this leads to a loss of individuality and style."

"Your style is rather chaotic. Why?"

"I got my first education as a civil engineer. Then I studied to become a fashion editor and, in parallel, a digital marketer. I love psychology very much. Apart from all that, I am an artist and a poet doing some vocals too. Currently I deal with philosophy issues. I wouldn't expect a regular and clear style from myself either, to be honest (laughs). The support of my family, which gave me the freedom to become what I want to be, has also helped me to achieve this chaotic style."

"We have seen a number of your works published in foreign magazines on your website. Can you describe us the process of creating your images, choosing the designers with whom you will be working, selecting the clothes and brands?"

"Each shot for a magazine is a photographic production that contains a message. Based on the chosen theme, we prepare a storyboard from the first to the last frame. Of course, the choice of brands and designers depends on the theme and style of the shoot. We can also choose from the brands that are commercially interesting to us."

"What do you do when you are not happy with the final result?"

"It happens a lot. The final look is not always up to me. It is completely a team effort. So it is very important that everyone in the team is on the same page, psychologically and morally. Otherwise the tension affects the results of our joint work. In such cases, I prefer to keep my name in the shadows and not report publicly on the final product."

"Whose opinion is important to you?"

"If we're talking about editors, it's a draw, because we can look at the final work as a photographic work and not everyone is obliged to understand that picture. Different opinions are absolutely normal. But when it concerns the commercial side of the production, the customer's opinion is very important, and often that opinion is more important than that of my own."

"Tell us about the projects you are currently working on."

"My most important projects are art performance and the solo exhibition I'm preparing for. The loss of conceptualism and absolute commercialisation of the fashion industry are damaging the industry as a whole. And my planned exhibition is about this topic."

"One of your most recent works is with the Russian magazine Elle. What did you decide to show to foreign readers? What national colours and elements do you try to focus their attention on. What locations of Baku did you make an accent on? "

"Since all other countries have focused on their national styles, we thought that by staying true to national values, we can share with people the modern level that we have achieved in 30 years. One may conclude that the fashion industry in Azerbaijan and other post-Soviet countries is going through a rapid development in many spheres of life amid general Europeanisation. However, we are unconsciously and sensitively living in the past: in our culture, traditions and architecture. This is what we wanted to show in our works. With subtle national hints and details we wanted to show the new Azerbaijan - a developed country, the leader of the region."

"What do you think of our national brands? What is your advice to contemporary designers?"

“I think this is the direction we should follow. We have a lot of work to do. We have few local brands, and they yet to establish their individual niche in the industry repeating the line of global trends. Often they duplicate each another. My advice to designers is to travel a lot. I do not mean browsing the internet and Instagram (smiles).”

“What about the fashion events taking place in Azerbaijan?”

“Unfortuantely, there is not a single fashion event in Azerbaijan that can attract attention. Both the international and local audiences are not at all inteested in our Fashion Week.”

"Murad, what drives your work?"

"I am a fashion stylist. What can I wish for myself in the field I’m working in? I wish our country, its people to be trendy and stylish. Our young people, Azerbaijani youth have great potential in the fashion industry. I would like to open my own production company in the future to do large-scale projects. My biggest desire is to bring one of the most famous fashion magazines in the world to Azerbaijan and lead it.  (Smiling)."