Action 9 or otherwise said - the graduate fashion show of the first batch of graduates of the speciality Industry Arts - Fashion of the National Academy of Art was carried out in the Sofia City Art Gallery. The chief lecturer of the graduates Mariella Gemisheva and mostly the students themselves had tried to put together the traditional and the challenging, the modern and the classic in their debut achievements. The show was attended by the minister of culture Vladimir Atanassov accompanied by Svetla Zlatarska, the rector of the National Academy of Art, Professor Ivan Gazdov, Ventzeslav Arnaudov, head of Socrates Programme. Professor Gredi Assa, Julia Bull, the actress Emanuella Shkodrova, the designer Veselin Yordanov and a lot of other VIP guests.

The first graduates majoring Industry Arts - Fashion at the National Academy of Art are Adriana Gerassimova, Tanya Kaneva, Makedonka Angelova, Nikola Tenev, Miglena Nikolova, Elena Savovska, Tina Yakimova, Atanaska Petrova, and Alexander Gerginov. The goddesses - muses - patronesses and inspirers of science and art - Melpomena, Calliope, Euterpe, Clio, Urania, Erato, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Talia personified their collections. The project aimed at establishing independent thinking for each of the young designers so that a complete image is achieved within the context of fashion as a social and cultural phenomenon, referring at present to the problems and the importance of art.

Among the goals of the graduate fashion show of the first batch of graduates of the National Academy of Art was also to provoke the capability for serious analysis of the time and the establishment of an individual position based on world interrelations and trends in the modern fashion design; cultivating of individual sensitivity to the actual necessities of aesthetics and functionality; tolerating independent, innovative thinking and creativity in the process of design, tailoring and presentation; the synthesising of the results through collective discussions - a prerequisite that is related to the requirement the process of organisation and realisation of the project to establish tolerance for team work; entering the real professional and art circles, etc.

MARIA DOICHINOVA
Maria Doichinova, a student of designer Raf Simons , to whom we paid special attention in the preface of the previous Almanac of Bulgarian Fashion 2002-2003 (4), continued to create original and refined works, being a mix of her own philosophy of a designer and perfect reflection of the world fashion dynamics. Her latest project, shown on 3 of June, 2003, in the Vienna complex Arsenal was inspired by the emblematic film of Liuise Bunuel and Salvador Dali Andalusian Dog. Her topic - Gothic Andalu, was a synthesis of Gothic and Surrealism. The installation of the project and the show itself are shown before 1000 people at the time of the annual promotion of the students of Fashion Design from the Academy for Applied Arts in Vienna. Iaria Doichinova employs ultramodern techniques for presentation (multilayered projection of the clothes on the heads of three white dolls, background of church leaded panels and multimedia). The models express her disagreement as a designer with the "dirt of the fashion of the present" and she apotheosises the refined and aesthetic design. The fabrics are mostly satin, chiffon, silk and woollen satin. The silhouette puts together the trends Street Fashion and Formal Evening Fashion and is varied by the availability of belts and silver clasps in big numbers. It was DJ Ponte who took care of the original music (especially composed for the installation and the fashion show) again. The Commission included prominent designers, fashion journalists and publishers from all over the world. The reports on the show are more than positive, the chief editor of the French VOGUE, Diane Perne, published a very good comment on her Internet page, expressing her acclamations and proclaiming "magnificent atmosphere". Another member of the commission - Cuki de Salvatore, also reported very approvingly about the accomplishments of Maria Doichinova.

NINA TODOROVA
The 24-year old student of Yordanka Chernaeva has graduated fashion design at the New Bulgarian University - bachelor's degree in 2002. While being a student, she demonstrated aspiration after individual style, conceptuality and active search for the new vision. Nina Todorova is a regular participant at Bulgarian Fashion Forum where she had shown her collections for the last six seasons. She highly appreciates the dynamic style and the extravagant cuts. She focuses on accessories and is strongly influenced by the evolution of the youth cultures round the world. Her collection, shown within the framework of the Apolonia Art Festival at the beginning of September 2003, included 13 models. Sexy appearance and impressing ornaments on tulle base were among the main accents in her works. Nina Todorova gave preference to the pastel hints together with green, orange and black. The successful combination of fine fabrics with hand-knitted items achieved the effect of authenticity, easiness and practicality parallel to the imposing of elegance of new type. The asymmetrical cuts and the big number of piled layers and layered transparent fabrics contribute to the feeling of contemporary fashion. Impressing are the blouses type polo neck that are hand-knitted and the boucle jackets. The apron-like ties add to the sense of new, different and fresh manner and design.