Daily Inspiration: Meet Alexandra Petina

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Petina.

Hi Alexandra, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My mom always encouraged my art tendencies and always tried her best to educate me and surround me with creative people. A lot of my ancestors has been directly connected with an art scene in Russia and Ukraine. No, during my high school I was preparing to apply for architecture design university, but then I realized that I would like to be studying in the field where I can show more of creative potential. I decided to apply to the foundation course at the British Higher School of Art and Design, based in Moscow. This course allowed me to experience different art fields and after I accomplished a fashion design project, I realized that I wanted to study it more deeply. I liked the complexity of clothes design and the multidisciplinarity of fashion. Afterward, I was studying at Graduate Diploma in fashion course at Central Saint Martins in London and then decided to go to New York to get a Master’s Degree here in fashion at Parsons.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obtaining a fashion education requires a lot of dedication and the ability to work on the projects without weekends for months. It took me time to get used to this system and understand how I can use it to show my full creativity and skills on the professional level. Looking back, I am very grateful for all obstacles I have because I learned so much and have become not afraid to take very challenging projects.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Even though I have a fashion education, I consider myself as a multidisciplinary artist. My projects were presented in classical runway presentation form, as well as a video performances made by myself. I am very proud of my latest project – Digital Radicalis, menswear collection, which were presented during NYFW.

I implemented my multidisciplinary approach from the beginning of design process. Research for this collection started with me going through the streets of NYC, just life drawing people around and searching for inspiration. Then I decided to use a 3D scan app which I downloaded on my phone, I am very interested in new technologies and was curious to use them in my design practice. I was combining analogue media and digital one. Using phone to capture stranger in 3D then print out their body in smaller size on 3D printer and then draw with paint on top of it.

These experiments in the beginning made me think about recent popularity of digital fashion, but in opposition to the mainstream, I decided to show digital “glitches” within the real garments, using traditional garment-making and printing techniques to achieve a result. So I used all of my 3D scans of people from the streets and analyzed which “mistakes” my scanner made in capturing clothes. Some people had their shoes melted with a trousers, you can’t see where is shoe begins and trouser end, someone had distorted backpack, someone’s face was so blurred and glitched that they would have 2 pairs of eyes. Analyzing all of it I found key features for my collection.

I also wanted to show a story through my lineup of 6 looks, not only recreate the glitches. It was a comment on radical youth thought forming, I saw how people from my generation are hyper-excited about NFT and Web 2.0 ideas. It is about a young guy who was so into virtual space that with time he alienates from the real and departures into the digital world. You can see that first look looks quite normal, but if you look closer you will see that trousers and shoes are immersed into each other, and the last one is completely alienated person with hidden face into his own world.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favourite childhood memory was a trip with my family to Kargopol – a small town surrounded by forest and villages on the North-West of Russia. It was very mystic place, a lot of locals still believed in witches, superstitious and practice old crafts. It was a bit scary to be there because you could feel a mystical vibe, but I have never been to place like this since then.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sashapetina.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashapetina
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-petina-30164a215/ 

Image Credits
Vogue Runway (1, 3) Esther Haase (2) Personal (4-6)