What to take with you from Serbia
The Yeya Brand arose from the idea that the mediaeval skill of ornamentation could relate to fashion by making authentic strips weaved on taffeta and damask. “It’s our wish to revive and preserve the beauty of the cultural heritages of the Balkans by applying them in modern, wearable and simultaneously different clothing articles,” says Jelena Atanasković, the creator of the Yeya fashion brand.
Inspired by the wall painting and architecture of the Middle Ages in the Balkans, Fantasia di Yeya clothing articles send a message of the undying beauty of cultural heritage. Jelena Atanasković, a woman from Cetinje with an address in Belgrade, stands behind the brand. She finds her vision, mission, motivation and inspiration in the ornamentation visible in our everyday lives. “Our cultural heritage is our name and surname, the substance on whose roots our predecessors were building and ultimately built up the core of our existence. We must learn how to appreciate it in order to for us to be happy and true to ourselves. A woman aware of the tradition wears Yeya models. When I saw my model on the street for the first time, I knew that every woman wearing it must attract other people’s attention; I’ve always felt that those are the women wearing the model, not the model wearing them,” Jelena says to us.
“When speaking about tradition, we usually think of national costumes or costumes. For that reason, it is important to find that fine measure between fashion and tradition in the creation process. The Fantasia di Yeya brand wants traditional ornaments to become a fashion. There are a lot of world brands dealing with this theme and applying ornaments or the elements of heritages in their collections; then why wouldn’t that be present in this small Balkan Peninsula and only belong to us?! It’s also interesting that we only use the monasterial medieval skill of ornamentation, which has been neglected under the pressure of, for example, the kilim of Pirot.”
To our question how she “has survived” this year and what she is planning to do in the future, Jelena tells us: “I’ve always adhered to the maxim that the best advertising is the ‘word of mouth’, but this tough year has taught me to better appreciate online marketing and online sale. As far as my plans are concerned, the year that is slowly coming to its end has confirmed the truthfulness of the saying – If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”
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