LOST DESIGNERS: KIRA PLASTININA

 Kira Plastinina is a Russian fashion designer who showcased her first collection in January 2008 at AltaRoma fashion week in Rome, Italy. 

She was born on June 1, 1992 in Moscow, Russia, making her only fifteen years old at the age of her debut. Her shockingly young age was the reason behind many articles that were published between 2008 and 2010 on European and North American magazines.

 I came to know about Kira in 2008, while reading W.I.T.C.H, an Italian kids and teen magazine, which was published from 2001 to 2012. It was surprising to find a full on, breaking news type of fashion article being featured on a magazine that normally centered around fiction, fantasy, and lifestyle. Again, the article's main point of interest was Kira Plastinina's young age. 

Two more factors caused an enormous buzz around her public figure: her financial background, and her team's incredible PR skills. Each and every article about her work mentioned Kira's father, as one of the main sponsors behind her success. 

Sergei Plastinin is, in fact, co-owner of Wimm-Bill-Dann, a Russian dairy company founded in 1992, amongst the largest in Europe. Kira's YouTube channel showed her luxurious everyday routine: in a video called Kira Plastinina Lifestyle, she takes the viewers along for a day in her life. She is seen riding a taxi to school in the morning, showing her locker at school, and traveling to her countryside home, where she rides her horse, wearing an iconic silver windbreaker with her initials.

Another great move was Kira's PR team getting top celebrities to be ambassadors of the brand. By 2011, Kira's YouTube channel already featured videos of personal clothes fittings, and movie premieres with Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears. Another power move was working with celebrities who were extremely trendy: stars such as Audrina Patridge, who had just reached fame after taking part in reality show The Hills.

Campaigns for her clothing were fun, and playful. In 2009, the prime of the long t-shirts worn over a pair of leggings, Kira rode the wave of this trend and made it glam and unapologetic. Inspired by pop-rock culture, and Avril Lavigne, Kira's first collections have a juvenile and rebellious tone to them. They feature Converse style-shoes, graphic tees, black vinyl pants, gigantic star earrings, oversized beanies paired with hot pink tutus, and metallic biker jackets.

Aside from numerous store locations in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, Kira also opened in North America. In 2008 she launched 12 stores all over the United States, only to close all of them in January 2009, after filing for bankruptcy. She reopened in late 2009, in Los Angeles, but that location eventually closed down too, in 2013. (Source: Holly Haber, Kira Plastinina Tries U.S. Retail Again, published on April 22, 2013 on the Women's Wear Daily website, wwd.com).

By 2012, Kira's presence on European and North American media was almost completely gone, apart from articles about her physical store fiasco. Recordings of her fashion shows, and other content on her online channels started to be released in Russian only. 

In the latest years she has released a long interview -the first in forever- for a Russian TV channel, which is available on YouTube. Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles. However, from Kira's serious attitude it seems like the interview was full of personal questions, maybe even about the end of her career as a designer. Right now, it's not clear wether she still takes care of the creative part of the business. 

I found her personal Instagram account about two years ago, and after she accepted my request, I was able to look at her profile. It's a personal Instagram, with casual photos, mostly of her with friends and family. She wasn't really posting any fashion related content, at least up until a year ago, which is the last time I was able to check. 

She still has an Instagram for her brand, but it's in Russian only. Her line of clothing took a significant turn towards a more formal style, starting in 2012-2013. Her latest collections definitely cater more to Russian women, than to a young Western audience. It's a lot of office appropriate attire, and below-the-knee dresses. 

Kira married Dallas businessman Trey Wallette in 2017, whom she has supposedly been dating since 2009. There is really no news about her brand in any language besides Russian as of now, and it's sad to see her adventure outside of Asia and Eastern Europe had such a short life.

Regardless of her financial status prior to fame, which caused many to speak ill on the young designer, Kira was able to achieve great success in -and for- a short period of time, with an impactful style of fashion campaigns. Her work from 2008-2011 inspired many teens and young adults who dreamed of working in the fashion field. Her creations from that time frame had such powerful energy to them, and so did her online content.

I hope Kira Plastinina's heritage can be appreciated by future generations of fashion lovers. I am not in the position to judge the way her career developed. I simply admire what Kira, and her team, were able to create. She gave me the feeling that fashion is a fun place, that fashion is a game. That is probably the most valuable belief a kid could have: that anything is, in fact, possible. 

Even though we are well aware that, because of her encouraging, wealthy family, she had a huge running start, it is undeniable that her fashion has been extremely influential.

All photo credits go to the rightful owners.