It presents such Ukrainian fashion brands as Bobkova, Bevza, Elena Burenina, Bekh, Lake, Przhonskaya, Yuliya Yefimtchuk+, Omelya atelier, Domanoff, ProskurovskaЯ, Denis Music Jewellery, Sneshana Nekh, Jean Gritsfeldt, Cover #1, Marsala. Irina Radeva, the founder of the Store, shared her thoughts about Ukrainian design with us.
Irina, in a recent interview for “Marketing Media Review” you have talked about the fact that now it is time to abandon the "favorite horse", i.e. Concept Store in Odessa. And what about Kyiv? How is it to be engaged in fashion retail today in the capital?
Corner is only 2 years old. It was opened in December 2013, the most difficult year of political and economic events. Now the situation is much better. We grow up and develop. I did not expect that time that we would achieve the plans that we’d set. This is a great success, good luck and efforts of PR agencies we work with.
We have great prospects. Despite the fact that we’ve closed the Odessa Store, in November 2015 we opened a showroom there. That should be enough for Odessa region and we will move to other regions of the country.
In my opinion the fashion retail has perspectives not only in Kyiv and Odessa but also in Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkiv.
In Odessa we have already accumulated a group of customers. So they are our target audience. The problem of the other cities is that there is a lack of information about contemporary fashion in Ukraine. The fashion shows are concentrated in Kyiv. And it takes time to change the situation. We have some customers from other cities that come here especially for Fashion Weeks with a purpose to purchase clothing of the latest collections.
What principles of designers’ selection are followed by Corner?
Corner team and I choose the designers taking into account the philosophy of the brand, its structure and style. It is important to combine Corner Store format and designer’s concept. We try to keep our niche and not to lose our idea in a rush for profits.
Now Corner represents not only fashion designers but also young and promising interior designers and their decoration items. This is «Interior Corner» project. What is the reason for this?
Interior is a continuation of the fashion topic. We promote good taste on the basis of local fashion and interior design brands. Now there is a new generation of creative and talented Ukrainian designers and they are worth of being promoted.
What is the role of art in Corner?
We want to pay more attention to art objects but for now we just do not have enough time. We’ve conducted several art exhibitions and plan to go on with this. We are ready to represent talented artists.
Who is your customer?
We do not have collections for men so far that is why our client is a woman of 30+, she has an interesting job, some hobby, she likes to travel and to discover something new, she expresses her inner world also through clothing. This is a woman with an inner core. She can be dressed just in black but it looks bright on her. And there are a lot of such ladies in Kyiv.
Is event marketing very effective for Corner? How often do you plan to carry out activities in your store?
It is very effective in our case. We plan a lot of events. Autumn and winter will be very intensive. In December we will present Masha Bekh capsule collection specifically designed for Corner Concept Store. January will we be calm and there will be some sales in February.
Why should Europeans pay attention to Ukrainian design? What are our attractive features and advantages?
If the person is looking for something unusual, non-standard, high-quality, authentic, he/she will visit Corner. This person will be proud of these goods, believe me.
Corner CS address: 9-19 Vozdvizhenska street, Kyiv
Interviewed by Anna Vishtak
