From Top Lot to Twenties fashion: Russia’s Vtoroy Mekhovoy

Cocktails, games of chance, jazz culture. The free-wheeling speakeasy style of the 1920s might not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about Moscow.

But chic fur brand Vtoroy Mekhovoy has tapped into the Russian love for the grand and elegant with a collection that mixes fur and flapper fashion, created with Kopenhagen Fur Mink and Swakara.

It’s the result of an ongoing partnership that began when the company won a White Swakara Top Lot at our March auction last year, and was based on collaboration and idea-sharing.

One such exchange was with Vtoroy Mekhovoy designer Kristina Fialkovskaia, who visited our Kopenhagen Fur Studio last year to get ideas about how to innovate with the Swakara they had bought, as well as with mink and fox.

“For us it was important to find some new techniques for accessories. We wanted to know about knitting techniques with mink, for instance,” she explained.

“It was also really interesting to see how things work at the auction. I also really liked Kopenhagen Fur Studio – the atmosphere is great, and the people are really nice – super cool!”

Over the course of two days, Fialkovskaia, who has worked much with sable and cashmere in the past, explored new techniques using mink with the help of our veteran in-house furrier Sofie Erichsen.

“She helped me a lot. We made three samples with different colours, including a very difficult technique with twisted mink using both sides of the sample. Weaving, that’s what we came for,” she said smiling.

Months later, inspiration from such new techniques led to the styling of features in the Twenties collection, which contains fur in many natural shades.

“I think that the customers are tired of so many colours, and I wanted to use natural colours, natural mink, and maybe with some bright accessories,” said Fialkovskaia.

And as for their Swakara, it makes a graceful appearance in the collection where it is used with a technique that fades it into mink.

Have a look at Vtoroy Mekhovoy’s dramatically dressed photoshoot below!