The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Eastern USA will host a unique event featuring Shadoyan Fashion Couture House from Armenia. This fashion show of traditional costumes and evening gowns will take place on Oct. 6, in Washington Township, N.J.
Shadoyan Couture House was founded in 1999 by the Armenian fashion designer Kevork Shadoyan. Born and raised in Aleppo, Syria, since his teenage years, he worked in his father’s tailor shop in Aleppo where he fell in love with clothing and fashion. He inherited the talent of tailoring from his father as he was a well-known men’s costume tailor.
In 1997, Shadoyan graduated as a fashion designer and dressmaker from the ESMOD, College Artistique de la Mode Moderne, in Lebanon, and qualified as a fashion designer. Shadoyan always had the desire to move to Armenia to learn the history of his ancestors and create traditional Armenian clothes. In 2001, he fulfilled his dream when he moved to Armenia and studied there. He has lived there ever since. In 2004, he received his Master’s Degree from the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts as a decorative textile production designer.
The Shadoyan Fashion brand includes “Haute Couture,” wedding and evening dresses, pret-a-porter suits, casual dresses, shirts, shoes, bags, accessories, and Armenian souvenirs. His designs have been featured in fashion shows in many countries including Armenia, Australia, Georgia, Lebanon, USA, and in fashion centers such as Moscow and Paris.
Shadoyan was one of the first designers who managed to create a new and unique style by combining elements of Armenian traditional costumes and modern clothing. His evening dresses have some unique charm due to the fact that he uses white raw silk, dyed and covered with beads and then embroidered according to his clients’ tastes.
Shadoyan teaches at the Fine Academy of Yerevan as a fashion design teacher and is also an art teacher at Quality Schools International Art School in Yerevan. He’s planning on opening a fashion school in Yerevan in the future.
In 2015, he created an exclusive collection called, “Reincarnation,” dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial. The collection includes Armenian national costumes. The designer revived the traditional costumes by synthesizing his imagination with the fabrics, colors, and ornaments of traditional costumes and derived a beautiful mix of old and new. He first introduced this collection in Artsakh, followed by the “Estet Fashion Week,” in Moscow where in front of a non-Armenian audience he received the “Best Foreign Collection” award. He then showcased his line in numerous other cities, including in Los Angeles.
For the upcoming fashion show in New Jersey, Shadoyan will present his exclusive collection dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial and will also present evening gowns from his 2016-2017 Spring/Summer collection.
For this occasion, the ARS of Eastern USA, will publish a booklet that will include vibrant drawings of the national costumes from historical Armenian provinces, such as Marash, Urfa and Sassoun, which are all designed by Shadoyan himself. Donors can sponsor a page of their choice for which the proceeds of both the booklet and event will help support ARS of Eastern USA programs.
The fashion show will take place Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at Seasons, 466 Pascack Road, Washington Township, N.J.
The Armenian Relief Society was founded in 1910 in New York City to provide educational and humanitarian assistance to Armenians throughout the world. The ARS of Eastern USA annually establishes programs and implements them in local communities in the Eastern Region and abroad in Armenia, Artsakh, Javakhk, Syria, and elsewhere.
The ARS of Eastern USA provides financial aid to deserving students in Armenian schools and gives scholarships to deserving undergraduate and graduate university students. It also participates in providing healthcare services to more than 40,000 residents in the Akhourian region in Armenia through the ARS Inc. Mother and Child Clinic and Birthing Center. The ARS of Eastern USA sponsors nearly 400 children in Armenia and Artsakh and assists 35 students with education funds. The Soseh Kindergarten-Day-Care in Artsakh which provides a warm and secure environment for war orphans and children of families in need of assistance is also a highly regarded ARS project.
Since the outbreak of the war in Syria, the ARS of Eastern USA has implemented many programs to alleviate the suffering of the Armenians in Syria. Through fundraising events and campaigns, more than $500,000 was transferred to Syria and the funds are being utilized to deliver humanitarian aid to families in need, distributing food to the needy, and helping to keep the schools open.
For more information or questions, contact the ARS of Eastern USA at arseaustus@gmail.com or 617-926-3801.
Source: Armenian Weekly
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