H2O: A blend of fashion, identity, history, wounds, faith and hope
Featuring elements of fashion, the interactive exhibition authored by designer Arevik Simonyan – founder of the famous brand Kivera Naynomis – was the first in its kind in Armenia.
Mysterious illumination, religious music, national ornaments, lost homeland and power of the cross: it was with this blend that designer Arevik Simonyan turned the pain of war into ar. Titled H2O, the exhibition was not just a fashion show, but also an exceptional story about our identity, history, wounds, faith and hope.
The hall of the Sports and Concert Complex was divided into eight pavilions titled Heaven, Birth, Baptism, Blessing, Sin, Pain, Loss and Emptiness. Stairs leading to pavilions were an opportunity to think, to realize, to re-evaluate life. The costumes displayed on mannequins merged the spiritual and the material through color and design solutions.
“We did not aim at publicizing the collection or spreading new ideas. Faith was at the core of our goal. We wanted to show that we are the first Christian nation, and this is not accidental,” designer Arevik Simonyan says.
Arevik wanted visitors to leave the exhibition with the desire to review life, to value, to appreciate what they have.
Designer Arevik Simonyan is a mother of four sons and knows the price of peace. The idea of the collection came in the post-war period, and the theme of the war could not be left out of the exhibition.
"I wanted to show not the war, but the resulting human losses. We wanted to show the way a person should cross: it all depends on our choice. And we must choose the good, stand by our church, our faith, this is how we can step on a big and bright path,” says the designer.
Organizers intend to display the exhibition in Russia, the United States and Europe.