introducing Bibi Bachtadze by Anna Schäfer-Bachtadze
edited by Matteo Menotto
You inhale a breathe of Paris entering Bibi Bachtadze’s showroom.
But it’s Marienstrasse in the heart of the old Berlin, and not Rue Cambon, this place pervaded by a feeling of timeless glamour that crosses space boundaries and recalls directly the ateliers of French couturiers. Or simply it’s not a matter of place and time, but moreover the sensation for a universal concept of elegance, that ensembles all this creations in an extemporary dreamy world, where ribbons and faders detail clouds of organza and slender figures move in a majestic blend of ribbons and long dresses.
This story starts with the dream of a young girl of becoming a dancer since her admiration for Anna Pavlova, and develops her fantasy in creating clothes for imaginary cotillions she runs during the summer afternoons of her childhood. Anna, this the name of the girl, grows in Tibilisi with an eye on the lightness and tender beauty of the fabulous world of ballet. She moves her steps close to the world of classic ballet and lets her imagination grow playing with the fabrics of her grandmother, milliner and modeller on the black sea coast. In this childish game there’s a spontaneous will to create, where the forms come from the composition of the material and the craft of a handmade piece is natural.
The equinity of this artistic behaviour goes through the time up to nowadays. Anna together with her family left Georgia and moved to Berlin, where she first study fashion and then started her label, Bibi Bachtadze. Thus the story comes true: the spirit of the creations and the atmosphere you feel in her atelier are still intimate and more devoted to the creation of something beautiful than to the respect of market’s rules and seasonal trends.
Every little details brings imagination back to a glorious time of delicate elegance where the creation of a dress is something unique and made properly over a body. This personal and experienced handwork probably add to these high couture clothes an allure that make also those who wear them feeling part of a dream. The cocktail line as well, conserves a handmade professional quality and is produced in a limited numbers of samples, that guarantees this intimate sense of beauty and love for each creation.
Anna Scharfer herself declares that she prefers to stay as small as she can, to feel still close to all her creations, preferring to have a unique personal touch instead than being subordinated to he logic of mass production.
Staying close to the work for Anna means also remaining close to the people that choose Bibi Bachtadze’s fashion. Although spread even out of Europe, these customers still feel the touch of handmade quality and in wearing these creations are surely brought back with imagination to the intimate and private environment of this Berliner atelier with a Parisian spirit.
