In the August issue, on newsstands now, I wrote a little piece about Kira Plastinina, Russian designer and SMU student, and her new flagship LUBLU storefront in the Plaza at Preston Center:
When other 14-year-old Russian girls were playing with friends, Kira Plastinina was sketching designs for the teen fashion empire her father launched in her name in 2007. They opened more than 120 Kira Plastinina stores around Russia, China, and the Middle East, and followed up their success by debuting her off-the-runway collection, LUBLU, during Milan Fashion Week in 2009. Though a previous attempt to launch Kira Plastinina storefronts in the United States and a LUBLU flagship in Los Angeles was unsuccessful, the designer, now 21 and a junior at Southern Methodist University, is trying again. A LUBLU flagship store, dedicated to her high-end collections, is opening in the Plaza at Preston Center. The designs, like Plastinina, are all grown up.
Her fall 2013 collection is saturated with mixed prints, sumptuous textiles, and classic silhouettes. One standout print, a vintage-washed floral collage against wide black stripes, flows from a full, 1950s-inspired skirt to a motorcycle jacket with leather sleeves. A brocade A-line coat, paneled pencil skirt, and dress with matching capelet are timeless, while leggings with sheer panel cutouts and a minidress in black velvet are young and fresh. Tommy Ton, darling of the street style photography world, shot the fall look book, which starred fashion bloggers Leandra Medine of Man Repeller and Miroslava Duma of Buro 24/7, and Dallas’ own Jessica Nowitzki. You can find the full collection, plus spring/summer ready-to-wear, at LUBLU now.
Fall has not hit the store floor yet, but should be in stock mid-August.
