Natalia Naftalieva’s collection, "Turkestan Avant-Garde," is dedicated to a unique art-historical phenomenon that emerged nearly a century ago. The collection’s imagery draws inspiration from the experiments of early 20th-century Russian avant-garde artists, as well as the spirit of industrialization and the dynamic transformations that characterized the early years of Soviet Russia. During the 1920s and 1930s, works of the Turkestan Avant-Garde uniquely blended multi-figure compositions—depicting heroes of Soviet labor—with vibrant, saturated colors and Asian-inspired ornamentation.

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The worldview of the peoples of the East resonated with the artistic and philosophical pursuits of the avant-gardists. This gave rise to a unique fusion of innovative art movements and the traditional crafts of Central Asia—a region whose applied arts, characterized by geometric patterns, rhythmic interplay of elements, and bold color combinations, defined the color palette and ornamental framework for the "Turkestan Avant-Garde" collection, in which ethnic motifs and constructivism merge organically.

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Avant-garde textiles from the 1920s—created with the involvement of renowned innovative artists such as Kazimir Malevich, Varvara Stepanova, Lyubov Popova, and Ivan Puni—drew connections to ancient Asian ornamentation. Similarly, traditional Uzbek "ikat" fabrics evoke the appearance of a computer matrix; this parallel largely informs the aesthetic of the designer’s new collection, which explores the theme of a modern "technological civilization" with an Eastern face.

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The non-figurative, geometric, and calligraphic qualities inherent in the Central Asian visual tradition share common ground with the "art without an image" championed by the proponents of non-objective art. Drawing upon the unique legacy of the Turkestan avant-garde artists—as well as the distinctive patterns and color palettes of traditional textiles like *suzani* and the craft of carpet weaving—and finding further inspiration in the dynamism and technocratic nature of the modern world, Natalia Naftalieva has created a fusion of sportswear and ethnic-inspired fashion. The geometric patterns on silk robes, combined with athletic jumpsuits and headscarves, reflect a stylistic innovation that bridges the past and future of Russia and Central Asia within the "Turkestan Avant-Garde" collection.