Igor Gavar

Babushki

Even five years ago the fashion industry openly insinuated that getting old is undesirable and unnatural. This view from the world of glossy magazines was suddenly overturned by the appearance of street fashion blogs. Thanks to them we realised that the desire to look good is natural for people of any age. Ladies of over seventy pay equal attention to the issue ‘How do I look?’ and are equally adept at answering the question ‘What shall I wear today?’ This was no unexpected discovery, but interest focused on examples of beauty in old age, and it became obvious that age and beauty get along together just fine. You could say a gerontological revolution took place. Signs of this can be seen in recent advertising campaigns by leading fashion brands, featuring models of a mature age.

The trend for looking good in old age is already in full force in Europe and the US. It’s a fact that the average European pensioner can allow themselves fashionable clothes.

In Russia that is not the case. Our grandmothers are not interested in reading glossy magazines about the good life — the reality they face is altogether different. In our country the older generation lack the financial means to be consumers of fashion. They themselves come up with ideas and designs based on fantasy, intuition and past experiences. Close examination reveals that this age group have their own trends and fashions, with consistent preferences for certain outfits that are not always dictated purely by lack of finance. Elderly people try to dress up using the available resources, although these are unfortunately limited. But a key role is played by people’s desire to look good, and neither poverty nor drab reality can stifle that.

This series portrays a specific age-related sector of our society that is certainly not prosperous but meanwhile retains a sense of style, regardless of the advancing years.

The aim of my project is to dispel the stereotype of elderly people as old-fashioned retrogrades whose interests are confined to watching TV serials and tending their vegetable garden. This age group has the same desires and aspirations as other people. In this respect clothes are a point of contact in the interests of different generations, and a means of communication between them.

Igor Gavar

Gavar Igor Igorevich (25.04.1986)

2009 — graduates from Omsk State Institute of Consumer Service Technology, specialising in Environmental Design (interior designer).

2011 — starts Point of People blog about the beauty of the elderly and the uniqueness of ordinary people, for which he takes portrait photos in street fashion format.

2012— participates in shooting the documentary film ‘Old and Bold’ for Russia Today TV channel. The film is about pensioners who discover their talents and realise their dreams at an advanced age.

2012— receives a grant from the Benetton Group’s charitable fund Unhate to realise his own socially responsible project. The concept for this project is ‘a photo album about the beauty of people of pensionable age’; the goal is ‘visual demonstration of the variety of styles and the pensioners’ creative approach to their appearance, by which the author hopes to demonstrate that the desire to look good cannot be destroyed by poverty or banal reality’. This project is an appeal to the public to focus on problems of the older generation in Russia.

Exhibitions

2005 — series of graphic works ‘Blue-Red’. Group exhibition ‘All the Same...’, Siberian Pyramid International Centre for Creative Development, Omsk.

2006 — series of graphic works ‘Unhate’. Group exhibition ‘Cheers?!’, Siberian Pyramid International Centre for Creative Development, Omsk.

2009 — solo photo exhibition ‘1’. Robe Fashion House Art Gallery, Omsk (curator: O. A. Karlova).

2009 — Baltic Photography Biennale ‘Photomania 2009’, Kaliningrad.