Can you tell us a bit more about you? Where are you from?

I was born in Russia, in the city of Ulyanovsk.

Where do you live now?

4 years ago, I moved to Moscow, as I wanted to grow as a designer.

Tell us a bit about your background?

Actually, I’m a musician, I’ve been into music for a long time, but it has never been my only occupation. In 2014, under the influence of Japanese minimalism, a mixture of traditional and innovative Japanese culture, I designed and made my first coats with geometric collars, and sent them over to California where they were featured in a movie. In the end of 2015 I launched my own clothing line. At the moment, I am setting up a small workshop.

Can you describe your community/followers?

For me, how you feel in what you are wearing, is very important. I think that our clothes influence our behavior and thoughts. My followers are the people who respect handcrafting, who value the aesthetics of clothing just as much as comfort. The people who care about what they wear, what it is made of, and who made it.
I wouldn’t like to limit my followers by Russian people only, so I am working on widening my audience.

How would you describe your style, image, storytelling?

I combine traditions and innovations, relaxed fit, architectural design and convenience—all in one. So, it’s more like a mixture of styles. I travel more and plunge into the culture and traditions of every country that I visit. That helps me to find the best materials, acquire knowledge and get inspiration for designing new clothing.
We respect handcrafting and most of our clothes are exclusive handmade things. I focus on making elaborate products, very well thought out—both aesthetically and functionally.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I would say, I do a lot of research, I look around a lot, but I think it has more to do with the ability to notice details, and, of course, the most important thing is to love what you do.

When did your passion for design start?

It started quite a long time ago, and it was more like a desire to have the clothes that I could not find and buy for myself. I’ve always liked to sew, and now it’s grown into something more.

What material do you use for work?

When I design clothes, my starting point is most often deciding on the material. For me, it is important to deliver the concept while maintaining the quality—that’s always been my priority. I try to use only natural ecological materials and reduce the textile production waste to the minimum.

What are your biggest accomplishments as a designer?

The ability to deliver some information via my clothing.

Can you tell us a bit more about Bannet? When did it start? Can you describe the lifestyle around the brand?

3 years ago, when we started to design our first kimonos and coats, we did not have any particular name, we only had a concept. The word “bannet” has my name encoded in it. When I decided what I wanted to design, the MARUT brand was born. It is only a little more than a year old, so our journey is only starting.