There is no denying that Anya Melkozernova’s textile designs are bold, dramatic, and delightfully surprising. However, you can’t look at Melkozernova’s work without wondering about the source of the unique twist in each custom piece. The answer lies 4,700 miles away in Puschino, a very small town southwest of Moscow. The Russian native has been in the United States for the past 14 years and has remembered to keep her culture present in her art.
Learning to sew early on instilled Melkozernova with a passion for textiles and a drive to pursue a career in fashion design. Russia itself has a very extensive textile history, which also contributed to Melkozernova’s interest. Her textile design education began in 2007, and she recently graduated from ASU with a Fiber Arts degree in May 2011.
The designer’s Russian heritage has served as an extremely rich well of inspiration for her artistic endeavors. She explained to me, “In fashion, my taste is definitely influenced by Russian folklore, and it comes out in the use of color and print. One thing I can say is the bold colors and lines of Russian folklore inspire my aesthetic.”
The mythical and magical elements in Russian legends can certainly be seen in Melkozernova’s fashion line Looks Good An-ya Fashion.
Melkozernova has pulled ideas from sources as innocent as children’s toys to as aggressive as Soviet propaganda posters. “For example,” she explains, “with textile design I found some old childhood books that I grew up with (they are called skazki in Russian) and referenced some of the flowers and patterns I found in there.”
Because Melkozernova tends to work very intuitively, the Russian undertones in her design aesthetic are mostly subconscious. Though she can’t always pinpoint the exact source of her creative ideas, she says “a lot of people say [Russian influences] come through in my designs… I don’t really notice it, but it is very interesting and rewarding when others do.”
