As a veteran of the fashion industry, it takes a lot to impress Bruce Pask. But Jahnkoy changed that.
“I saw her show at New York Fashion Week: Men last season and was blown away by the environment she realized,” said the men’s fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman.
Jahnkoy, a Siberian-born designer whose given name is Maria Kazakova, created an intricate collection that is more art than fashion. Jahnkoy repurposes products she considers the result of “excessive consumption and waste” and creates street-inspired men’s wear using traditional beading on pieces that loosely resemble pants, shirts and jackets. The collection turns traditional apparel upside down — in some cases literally — as in the case of a “shirt” featuring sleeves made from basketball shorts.
Since her collection is better suited to a gallery than a retail sales floor, Pask worked with the designer to create commercial versions of her craft. The results of that partnership were celebrated with an event on the store’s third floor Tuesday night.
“She’s one of the most amazing talents I’ve ever seen and has a singular vision,” Pask gushed. “What we developed was a ready-to-wear collection that was a distillation of her one-of-a-kind pieces. We wanted to create a platform for her.”
The Bergdorf pieces ranged from beaded Puma track jackets for $2,800 — Jahnkoy is sponsored by Puma and its leaping cat logo is prevalent in her clothes and embellished sneakers — beaded track pants for $1,300, skirt-pants for $3,200, a sleeveless top for $900 and sneakers for $990 to $1,300.
Pask said the exclusive collection will continue to have a home on the store’s third floor beyond this week. “We see a bright young talent with a great future,” he said.