Photo Friday: ♘ Frol Burimskiy's Instagram ♘

By now you know I am not merely interested in Russia-I am indeed a Russophile. My love for Russia extends from its prehistoric past (Siberian tigers/shamans/Lake Baikal, anyone?) to modern social media. Enter: ultra-femme, ultra-fashionable, and ultra-Russian designer & courturier Ulyana Sergeenko. Enter next: her right-hand man and business partner, Frol Burimskiy. Final entry: Frol Burimskiy’s Instagram.

While Russian models have been fashion royalty since the 90s, modern fashion design and curatorial talent of Russian origin have started to take the street style limelight in more recent years. Deemed the Russian Fashion Pack or the Fashion Mafia, the Russians have taken the western-based fashion industry by storm since the late 2000s, locationally and stylistically. Editors like Miroslava Duma and Anya Ziorova, designers like Vika Gazinskaya and Elena Perminova, even public political figures (and fashion statement-makers) like Ksenia Sobchak and Pussy Riot, have created their own street style revolution (no pun intended). Ulyana Sergeenko sprung onto the fashion scene in 2011 when a street style photograph of her went viral; she has also established herself as an extremely talented, detail-oriented, and theatrical designer. She showed her first couture collection in July 2012 Paris uninvited; that's how much of a show-stopper she is. 

All of her collections since have never ceased to amaze me. Nor has her exquisite style. She is often photographed with Frol for a range of media from street style photography blogs to print magazines. Her talent is certainly captured in Frol's Instagram feed. 

From his travels with Ulyana to visually stunning stimuli for future collections to Russian traditions, Frol's Insta is brimming with curated gems. It's one of the few Instagrams I actually enjoy looking at without feeling like I'm missing out or comparing myself to others: Frol's feed inspires and thrills me the same way a fat kid goes ham in a candy shop. I thereby give you some of my top picks over the past few months of Insta-feed, with a focus on men's fashion. Men's Fashion Week kicked off this week in Paris, and considering that I currently (temporarily) work at a men's suit shop, I might as well pay attention. Thanks, Frol- I stalk admire your Instagram a lot. 

Some stunning princely outfits in Russian fairytale winter landscapes:

I call this compilation: "Flight":

Intricate details of the Russian and Soviet aesthetics:

"Posh Frol" and his adventures with Ulyana: 

Last but not least, he understands the cuter things in life 

Bottom left is Ulyana as a little girl, exclusively publicized on social media

I am particularly drawn to Ulyana Sergeenko as a person because her design aesthetic speaks to the legacy of both tsarist, Soviet, and modern-day Russian culture. She uses a lot of design inspiration that is virtually unknown to western eyes, locked away for decades by the interestingly-designed clasps of the Iron Curtain. Frol's Instagram says a lot about the history of the Russian aesthetic. The Russian aesthetic reaches far and wide, from St Petersburg across the Caucasus all the way to Siberia. It embodies the minute details that Russian people cherish in the objects and tasks of everyday life to the depth and complexity of the "Russian soul." Often this comes across as the #darkwhimsical aesthetic, might I add. Frol's Instagram is genius branding in action that keeps the Ulyana Sergeenko brand true to its origins...even on social media.

xo ♡ SFB