Interview with the designer Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili.

Follow him on Instagram: www.instagram.com/aleksandreakhalkatsishvili/

When and how you decided that you wanted to be a designer?

It was my childhood dream, I have always wanted to become a designer.

It was your dream job?

Yes, being a designer was my dream job.

Which is the first thing you designed and for who (yourself,a friend…)?

When I was 11 years old, I was granted a President’s scholarship. I created dolls and dresses for them, so that was the first thing I designed.

Who’s the designer you admire the most and why?

Every time I like different designers, there is no particular one. I all depends on their collections from year to year, what they create. Mostly I like comme des garcons, because Rei’s patterns, cuts and shapes are always very interesting. Also I like Jil Sander because of its minimalism.

Who’s your muse, your icon, when you create a dress?

It never is someone particular. Most of the time I am inspired by different things, actions, not people or someone specific.

If you had to design an entire collection using just one color, which is the one you’d pick and why?

Black, because I love it, and because it describes me and my collections in the most right way.

Who’s the first person you show your sketches to?

To my best friend who knows me the best.

The fabric you love the most…silk, lace, velvet and why?

I like different fabrics; I mostly use wool, silk and other natural fabrics. I love handmade textures, which I do by myself.

If your clothes had a soundtrack, which songs you’d choose?

I would choose different soundtracks for my different collections, but mostly my collections has a feeling of classic drama music.

Do you have any trick to avoid that “blank page” moment when you’re at the beginning of the designing of a new collection? Do you watch a movie, flip an old magazine…

I watch a movie; go for a vacation inside and outside of the country. All of this inspires me and gives bright, new ideas.

If you weren’t a designer which job in the fashion world you would like to do and why?

I would have been a stylist or a photographer, because mostly I do this jobs for my collections.

*Bio: Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili – 29 years old fashion designer, based in Tbilisi, Georgia.Studied Fashion Design BA and Masters at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Attended workshops in Fashion Design in Berlin, Germany. Currently works at Fashion House Materia, makes seasonal collections for its premium line MATÉRIEL. Is a winner of Tbilisi Fashion Week Newcomers and one of the winners of Be Next Fashion Designer contest. Designed costumes for theater and music videos.