Why RED?

Hi, my name is Liza - short from Elizaveta - and this will be my first blog post. I may be 10 years late with it, but I have always loved expressing my thoughts in any art form, and writing was one of them. My first university major was journalism, and my first real job was a fashion editor in Vogue Russia, so I guess it does makes sense. So why RED?

RED is more than just a Pantone 032c for me. Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, and courage. Modern surveys in Europe and the United States show red is also the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love, and joy. In Russia “RED“ means “beautiful” - quite literally. The red color symbolizes the courage and the love of the Russian people. It really been in there for a long time.

I dyed my hair red after one painful period of my life - I really wanted to start a new chapter and changing hair seemed like a good idea to me. Right before moving to Moscow I went to salon in my hometown and erased my natural blonde with bright red. And I really felt like a new person - in the best way possible.

Red really made me feel like myself again and was very empowering. I started to model more because of my hair color and it really became my thing. Soon enough I started to wear full red fits matching my hair and getting streetstyled all over Europe. I didn’t have my nickname yet, but at the first off-white presentation one cool LA designer told me I look RAD. Me not knowing the word thinking that he was referencing my hair, he saw the confusion in my eyes and said - RAD with a, as of you look fly. I remembered.

I started to use RED as a nickname after this and wore a lot of RED. At some point I only bought red clothes. Indie magazine even wrote a feature about me collecting red things. Even after I decided to grow back my natural hair color and got back to wearing all black and all the colors again, I kept the name. Reminds me of good personal renaissance and the feeling of “you can have it all”. I like when people scream “YO RED” on the show backstage too. My funniest interaction happened with Raf Simons, when I was about to sign my magazine copy. I said please sign “RED” he, questioning everything, asked “just RED” and I said “yea RED as a color”. I saw quiet approval in his eyes. All I know is next day he wore red patent leather pants to Palais De Tokyo museum. Not saying it is my influence but it might be.