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People

Thursday, 28 January 2016

Alisaandsonya — project by Shahri Amirhanova and Jamilya Nurkalieva

Shahri Amirhanova and her daughter Alisa. Photo © Insatagram/alisaandsonya

The well-known fact: the education of children – nothing more than to educate ourselves. The birth of children causes parents to be better, to strive for more. Projects inspired by children, born by heart with particular trepidation. Children’s clothing store Alisaandsonya.com was opened by Shahri Amirkhanova and Jamila Nurkalieva, mother of two little girls, and employees of major glossy magazines in the past.

What is so special about alisaandsonya.com? How do you choose clothes for the shop? What brands are you particularly proud of?

Almost all brands form alisaandsonya presented in Russia for the first time. We spent a lot of time to select the most interesting and unusual designer children’s clothing and accessories from around the world and, before offering them to our customers, we had been checking everything on our own children. How do these things behave with time, if fabric is convenient and enjoyable for you baby skin, whether they are sufficiently practical and multi-functional – for the shop, we chose only those brands that are really fond of us and our children. In modern culture, obsessed with the production and consumption, so difficult to surprise and please the child with new clothes or toys.
The value of our things, not only in their beauty and quality, but also in the history of their creation. For example, the clothes of one of our favorite young brands from America Misha & Puff made by hand masters in Peru. In the studio, where they are provided with the food and a nursery for their children while they are working on a collection. We believe in the principles of fair trade, and we are pleased to recognize themselves involved in such stories.

Who are Alice and Sonia?

Alice – my daughter and Sonia – the daughter of my old friend and partner Jamila Nurkalieva. They were born with a difference of two months and immediately became friends. We used to do Jamila magazines about fashion, so it is a natural way to communicate our passion for beautiful clothes our girls. Until recently they completely trust our taste and allowed to dress himself, even as we like. Now they are showing their enthusiasm, they like to choose their own outfits and play dress-up and I must say, as long as they have not grieved for his experiments.

I think we managed to do to lay the proper foundation and give them a good starting point. Children’s visual education – it is so important. In Alice’s room you will not find any plastic toys, luminous and singing monsters produced in Chinese factories, or expensive and impersonal dresses from famous international brands – it’s so boring. All the clothes in her closet, sewn and tied by hand of needlewomen from around the world. I think this is the real modern luxury. I always feel sad about not having same in adult sizes.

Almost all the girls at the tender age are in love of pink-and-shiny-and-fluffy, how do you personally feel about this? Do we have to allow children to choose their own clothes? If needed, at what age?

I think this period of periodically overtakes all the girls and adults who are already far from a tender age. I, for example, are now crazy about powdery pink, infinitely buy my cashmere sweaters and dresses of all shades of this color. I do not see anything wrong with such enthusiasm and support them very much. Alice has and a magic wand and tiara and princess dresses and shoes with sequins, she loves them! His favorite dress with a long pink tutu, she chose it herself, and i love it also. The dress is really breath-taking, bought in one of my favorite children’s stores in Los Angeles. I think our job as mothers – to teach the child intuitively choose between a beautiful princess and vulgar princess from childhood surrounding his good taste and gently guiding and prompting. And then I’m happy to support all Alisa’s experiments with style and images!

Can the taste be formed in a gentle, even unconscious age?

I have already touched a little higher and this theme again, saying that in my opinion there is nothing more important than the education of good taste at a tender age. The two most common approach to children’s clothing – do not buy anything expensive, so the children of these things instantly grow up, or, on the contrary, clothe their children exclusively in the Central Department Store – and they are equally alien to me because I have nothing to do with good taste. For me, the most important criteria in the selection of clothing for her daughter – is a unique thing, the quality and practicality, and most importantly – the emotions that it gives. After all, memories of the first favorite dress of the most beautiful doll will stay with them for life. Instead of the five best suits inexpressive, I’ll buy her one of the softest cashmere from the Treehouse, which she will wear all season and he is not a bit of it will not be affected. Instead of expensive dresses from the famous designers who will wear it once and will feel it as a dressed doll, deduced the bride, I let her choose something amazing, made by hand and lovingly young designer baby clothes.

Special order of the site – design of children’s room – tell us a little more in detail, please.

By the design of children’s room we come exactly the same as the formation of a child’s wardrobe. Very often the parents leave the solution of the issue of an interior designer, who draws all of their home in the same style, but poorly understood topic in child and does not know anything about the tastes and interests of their children, and just doing beautifully. As mothers, we understand how to combine the wishes of parents and children to create an ideal and absolutely unique children’s room. We always consider the taste of the parents, but the main point of reference for us – the child. It looks like a fascinating game – together with him we see the color card to select a palette, looking at his favorite toys, asking about the games that captivate him. The result is a space that is in all respects reflects the inner world of the child. We often make our furniture children under individual sketches, as well as bring some unique vintage items from Europe and a lot of work with young designers of furniture and home accessories from America and Europe.

Will you sell Russian designers? Do you already have plans, who is going to represent?

All brands presented in alisaandsonya, made by the young parents. They live in different parts of the world and think about how to make the life and the perception of their children richer and more interesting, using your previous experience in the creative professions. We are always interested to join and support these people and their initiatives. Russia has so many talented artists and needlewomen, in this sense, there is a huge potential and we plan to continue to pay much attention to Russian designers of children’s clothing. They appear more and more, and they are worthy of attention, such as a young family of designers, which makes a stunning wooden toys SHUSHA and successfully sells them around the world, or baby clothes Baboo and LuKids, which makes young mothers from Moscow – so great that these brands are today becoming more and we are always watching what they are doing.

Text: Polina Gavrilova

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Photo: Timur Artamonov for Elle-Russia

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