On a visit to Ashgabat this month, Russian fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev professed his fascination with traditional Turkmen clothes, and announced plans to create a new collection featuring elements of traditional Turkmen costumes.

Zaitsev, who was in the Central Asian republic to take part in the Turkmen Textile Exhibition, said the collection would mostly consist of casual wear, including jeans, and would be made exclusively from Turkmen cotton. He added that the designs would also feature Turkmen embroidery, which had captured his imagination.

Zaitsev’s Fashion House in Moscow hopes his many customers in Russia and beyond will welcome the new line, like the designer’s other creations.

Zaitsev’s new collection is unlikely to be in high demand in Turkmenistan, however. Women there are still strongly encouraged to wear traditional costumes — long dresses covering ankles and a traditional hat called a “takhya.”

Uniforms are compulsory in schools, and girls’ uniforms are entirely based on national costumes. They include bright green, ankle-length dresses decorated with embroidery. Male and female students must wear takhyas. Girls sport two long braids, and those with short hair attach fake plaits to their takhyas to meet the requirements.

Farid Tuhbatulin, head of the Turkmen Initiative Group in Vienna, says some students, especially non-Turkmen, are unhappy with the strict dress code imposed under late President Saparmurat Niyazov. In a report on human rights in Turkmenistan, the Turkmen Initiative Group wrote earlier this year that female teachers and university students, regardless of ethnicity, are forced to wear national costumes.

“In the beginning, when the dress code was introduced at universities, some students [who did not want to wear national costume] were deprived of their stipends, and others were threatened with possible expulsion from university,” Tuhbatulin said. “This way, students were forced to accept university administrations’ requirements.”

Moreover, many families cannot afford the pricey school uniform, Tuhbatulin says. “Students are required to wear national costumes made from expensive fabrics, including a variety of types of velvet,” he said. “The collar of the dress has to be decorated with specific embroidery. It costs a lot of money. Besides, during official ceremonies all students are required to wear almost identical clothes with the same color and style.”

Tags: ankle length, asia, asian republic, china, dl, fashion designer, fashion house, female students, female teachers, girls sport, initiative group, money, national costume, national costumes, plaits, pose, president saparmurat niyazov, strict dress code, textile exhibition, traditional costumes, traditional hat, university administrations, vyacheslav, zaitsev

Related posts

• Tibetans dispute claims of no riot deaths
• Why we should just say no to designer labels
• Why we should just say no to designer labels
• Travel Agencys Trail Of Broken Promises Stretches From Coast To Coast
• Hilfiger Is Trying To Regain His Cutting Edge With A Star-Studded Rock’n'roll Show