AS4, S10: Dmitry Sholokhov

[yeswedo]

New York, NY, Season 10 Winner

 

 

[PepperMonkey]

I've always been a huge Dmitry champion. I was pulling for him to win season 10 long before he started rising to the top. There were a couple of early challenges in which I honestly believe he was robbed. I love his dry wit and his malapropisms (one-way monkey!) and I was thrilled with his win. I was hoping he would be one of the rare ones who had a successful solo design career so I've followed him diligently in anticipation of him being the next Siriano, career-wise.

 

So I have followed him on facebook, which is not fun for me, cause I really don't even LIKE facebook. I was kind of mortified to see that his entire facebook story is gigantic and/or artful pictures of himself. For some reason, that coloured my opinion of him ever so slightly. Either he is super lonely or the most self-centered celeb I've ever looked into on facebook. Either way, it makes me sad and tarnished my love for him just a bit.

 

I still woudn't be unhappy if he wins this season of AS, but I'm not going to slit my wrists if he doesn't.

Edited November 9, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[dialyn]

I don't use Facebook but I wouldn't make too much of the photos. This is a very self-involved world we live in where every person is encouraged to be a brand.  Dmitry may have chosen the photos himself, or he may have been taking advice from one of those irritating marketing experts. Personally I wouldn't judge anyone by their Facebook page, nor do I think Facebook photos have anything to do with Dmitry's designs.  I'd rather judge him on the work he does, and I am looking forward to seeing what he does now that the dreaded unconventional materials challenge is done with.

[leighdear]

As much as I love Dmitry too, I totally agree.  Post PR careers are so wildly unpredictable, as we've seen.  C. Siriano is the one absolute, unqualified success to come from the show, but I think that's been due the "perfect storm" of his age, personality, drive/motivation, creativity and skills.  Take away some or any of those attributes and you get everybody else that's ever been in this competition. 

 

Without knowing Dmitry personally, we have seen most of those attributes in his clothing, but his off-screen personality, his age and his drive could be the things that have kept him from being more prominently featured in current fashion.  Or maybe he's just had a run of bad luck, or made some bad decisions. 

 

Regardless, he's been my 2nd personal favorite of all time, falling just behind Santino.  I hope he does well, but it's all up to him. 

[Julia]

Dmitry's actually got a line in eastern europe. Which, I know, doesn't currently have the hautest reputation, but it does have a great deal of new money, and that's not likely to change. I think he's in a good position to shape what could be an important new market for fashion.

[Lurifax]

The manufacturer with which he is collaborating has an on-line sales site - but it doesn't work... Sadly, or I'd have bought several dresses. Search for O.Jen to see his collection - it's very desirable and not expensive by European standards -$100 for a dress which here is H&M price

[leighdear]

That's good to hear, Julia.  I hope he's successful in whatever market he chooses.  I remember him referencing his grandfather as one of his inspirations, so I'd think European success could be very gratifying for him. 

[larapu2000]

Dmitry's actually got a line in eastern europe. Which, I know, doesn't currently have the hautest reputation, but it does have a great deal of new money, and that's not likely to change. I think he's in a good position to shape what could be an important new market for fashion.

When I was at the Olympics in Sochi, I saw a woman dressed in head to toe fur with 8" heels, walking around the massive Olympic Park.  Every other woman was caked in terrible makeup and tacky clothing, either the fit, the material, or the overall style.  Dmitry is VERY NEEDED in eastern Europe!  (By the way, every day there was like spending a day with Dmitry and his accent/diction.  "What do you want?"  "Why do not you pay with plastic card?" "Why you buy this?  Is terrible.")

[ThatsDarling]

So I have followed him on facebook, which is not fun for me, cause I really don't even LIKE facebook. I was kind of mortified to see that his entire facebook story is gigantic and/or artful pictures of himself. For some reason, that coloured my opinion of him ever so slightly. Either he is super lonely or the most self-centered celeb I've ever looked into on facebook. Either way, it makes me sad and tarnished my love for him just a bit.

I recall Tom and Lorenzo writing that Dmitry was kind of rude and arrogant when they met him. 

 

I have no issue with designers thinking highly of their talents when they have the goods to back it up, but Dmitry won with what I consider to be a pretty tacky collection, and last week he sent a model down the runway with her butt cheek exposed. If he's going to sing his praises about his "amazing skills," he needs to step up his game. 

[BathKol]

When I was at the Olympics in Sochi, I saw a woman dressed in head to toe fur with 8" heels, walking around the massive Olympic Park. Every other woman was caked in terrible makeup and tacky clothing, either the fit, the material, or the overall style. Dmitry is VERY NEEDED in eastern Europe! (By the way, every day there was like spending a day with Dmitry and his accent/diction. "What do you want?" "Why do not you pay with plastic card?" "Why you buy this? Is terrible.")

Which is pretty much standard Eastern attire. However, when they get it right they get it right. I've seen the jewels in stores of Moscow and St. Petersburg. I nearly died - I have never seen more beautiful rubies and emeralds in my life.

Dmitry just seems kind of bland to me. He wasn't nekkid in those pictures was he? I hope he wasn't nekkid. That would make me die a little inside, too. He's like the cousin of Dracula.

[Dots And Stripes]

Watching the last episode I realized how much I missed Dmitry and his one-way-moneyisms. He's hilarious. He was absolutely disgusted other designers would spend time talking in the work room. Clothing aside, I hope he makes it to the end for sheer entertainment value.

[BathKol]

Watching the last episode I realized how much I missed Dmitry and his one-way-moneyisms. He's hilarious. He was absolutely disgusted other designers would spend time talking in the work room. Clothing aside, I hope he makes it to the end for sheer entertainment value.

It's his accent - and Russian/Eastern Euro people have such a great sense of humor. They're not as cynical as my French friends but they're just so honest in a semi-serious way you can't help but sniggle along with them. I like how in Epi.3 Dmitry was all like, "Chris's dress is so...*eyes momentarily glaze over* I DUN LIKE IT, OKAY?!"

[ub40fan]

I had a Russian emergency room nurse once. He reminded me of an east coast cabbie. Well, maybe with a little more charm than a cabbie. Eight hours of the most fun I'd ever had in an ER. Cynical and funny and very, very gentle with me. His name was Anatoly and I think of him whenever I hear Dmitry talk.

[TudorQueen]

I lost a little of my love for him last week when he looked so sour over Fabio's win. I know there's a real rivalry between them, dating back to their original season, but I thought it was a respectful rivalry. Maybe not...

 

He seemed to be back to his usual form this week - great deadpan, some humor restored, and I, for one, really liked his dress.

[Lurifax]

Has anyone else read Donna Tartt's Goldfinch and seen Dmitry as Boris (or Boris as Dmitry) throughout? Even the pointed eyebrows ....

[Dirtybubble]

So it's been bugging me for awhile who Dmitry looks like.  And then it came to me....Loki!  From the Thor movies.  Does anyone else see this?

 

 

[yeswedo]

So it's been bugging me for awhile who Dmitry looks like.  And then it came to me....Loki!  From the Thor movies.  Does anyone else see this?

 

Dirtybubble, your image didn't come through. See this topic for info on adding images.

[The Cake is a Pie]

Loki + Johnny Weir

[jackjill89]

We call him Snape.

[PinkSprinkles]

I'll leave this here as it was posted by Dmitry, but if a mod thinks it's more appropriate for the spoiler thread feel free to move it:

Dmitry posted a picture of the reunion. If you go by past reunion shows where they put the top three in the center, front couch than Dmitry at least made it to the finale.

[xtwheeler]

Hearing Dimitry saying the phrases "maternity fish costume" and "sea whores" gives me life.

[TudorQueen]

I have rather mixed feelings about Dmitri. He's talented - and his work is usually impeccably finished, even with ridiculous time limits and other curveballs. But he really is arrogant, and sometimes contemptuous towards the other designers, and sometimes the judges as well, which I find annoying. Since I love Fabio, the fact that they clearly dislike each other is uncomfortable to witness. And yes, the judges seem willing to overlook the fact that some of his designs are not only not 'fashion forward' but are self-referential to his own earlier work.

 

Then he says something like 'one way monkey', 'no hokey pokey' or 'sea whores' and I'm his all over again.

[fivestone]

I don't think he is arrogant at all.   I think he keeps the most important part of himself in reserve, which is smart in a program like this.

 

Agreed. I think a lot of it is cultural, too. He's from Belarus - I don't think it's fair to judge him by American standards. The same with Alexandria, who is Swedish. People wanted to pile on her but she just has that more reserved Scandinavian personality and I wouldn't have expected any less from her. True, there's Elena from Ukraine, and she had her moments of freaking out, but she partly grew up in America. Dmitry didn't move to the US until a few years ago as an adult.

 

Here in Europe, a lot of us are less likely to jump around all bouncy and happy and bond quickly with people we don't know. I mean, even something like "Hey, how ya doin'" is a little personal for someone you just met here, much less 'Hey, we just met each other 10 minutes ago, let's all be friends!' Personally I would warm up more quickly because I'm part American and I can easily settle into that bouncy friendly mode the moment my plane touches down on U.S. soil. But I can think of many, many people I know who would just approach PR as a 'we're all coworkers' here, kind of thing for quite some while... especially the Eastern Europeans.

 

Hunh... now that I think about it, we're far less likely to be down on ourselves and questioning and self-deprecating. We know what we're capable of and we go do it. Maybe it reads as arrogant, but I think that speaks more to the fundamental difference between American culture and European culture. Time spent crying and whining and 'oh shucks, little ol' me, I don't know if I can manage this' is time wasted. Oh, and if you critique someone very directly, especially someone from Eastern Europe (like Zanna did to Dmitry a couple of episodes ago), then you shouldn't be surprised to meet with direct in return. It's not meant rudely - once again, it all boils down to culture.

 

ETA:

I have rather mixed feelings about Dmitri. He's talented - and his work is usually impeccably finished, even with ridiculous time limits and other curveballs. But he really is arrogant, and sometimes contemptuous towards the other designers, and sometimes the judges as well, which I find annoying. Since I love Fabio, the fact that they clearly dislike each other is uncomfortable to witness. And yes, the judges seem willing to overlook the fact that some of his designs are not only not 'fashion forward' but are self-referential to his own earlier work.

Then he says something like 'one way monkey', 'no hokey pokey' or 'sea whores' and I'm his all over again.

 

 

Hehe, I love 'one way monkey', too! But as I mentioned above, I really don't think he's arrogant. I think some of his cultural traits happen to read that way to Americans. We can be direct here in central Europe and say stuff directly, without any rude intent. But Eastern Europeans, especially those from former Soviet Republics... my goodness. They take it to another level. Culturally they are used to being spoken to directly, and they will do the same in return, giving a direct, honest appraisal. One of my friends here is in a position of mentoring Russian immigrants. He has found that things go over much better if he basically just tells them directly what they need to do. Being all nice and trying to make things sound sunny and encouraging did not go over well. I think that's what happens with Dmitry. He is direct and expects that same directness in return, with no ill intent. And maybe some of that can come off antagonistic because of his facial expression. But resting bitchface is kind of standard here. You go up to somebody who looks like they're totally mean-mugging you, then you say a couple sentences and maybe they break out into a smile.But that's not going to happen during a critique.

 

Once again, I think he's being judged by American standards and that's going to always make him come across as unfriendly or arrogant since he's basically being taken out of context.

Edited February 7, 2015 by fivestone

[auntlada]

Agreed. I think a lot of it is cultural, too. He's from Belarus - I don't think it's fair to judge him by American standards. The same with Alexandria, who is Swedish. People wanted to pile on her but she just has that more reserved Scandinavian personality and I wouldn't have expected any less from her. True, there's Elena from Ukraine, and she had her moments of freaking out, but she partly grew up in America. Dmitry didn't move to the US until a few years ago as an adult.

 

Here in Europe, a lot of us are less likely to jump around all bouncy and happy and bond quickly with people we don't know. I mean, even something like "Hey, how ya doin'" is a little personal for someone you just met here, much less 'Hey, we just met each other 10 minutes ago, let's all be friends!' Personally I would warm up more quickly because I'm part American and I can easily settle into that bouncy friendly mode the moment my plane touches down on U.S. soil. But I can think of many, many people I know who would just approach PR as a 'we're all coworkers' here, kind of thing for quite some while... especially the Eastern Europeans.

 

I know these people are mostly young enough not to have grown up under Soviet rule (or to not remember much), but they would have the leftover culture from that, where you didn't bond with people you didn't know because you didn't know who you could or could not trust. Even among people you did know, you didn't want to share too much because maybe one of them would report to someone about something you said or did.

 

Although I've traveled in a former Soviet republic (Estonia), I'm American (for enough generations that we don't really know when all our ancestors came over, but probably in the 1700s), but I really like seeing people who are more reserved with their feelings like Dmitry and Alexandria. When they do show emotion, good or bad, I know they really mean it. When Dmitry jumped and yelled after winning the challenge and returning to the room, I knew he was really, really excited and happy. Whereas when Helen cried on the runway, I just thought, "Oh, here we go again. Want some more attention, Helen?"

[vavera4ka]

I know these people are mostly young enough not to have grown up under Soviet rule (or to not remember much), but they would have the leftover culture from that, where you didn't bond with people you didn't know because you didn't know who you could or could not trust. Even among people you did know, you didn't want to share too much because maybe one of them would report to someone about something you said or did.

It's not so much about that, that was more of a Stalin era.

We grew up in changing times, new money emerging and division of power. I'm from Belarus myself and, I think, about the same age as Dmitry. Trust and conversation with strangers issues for us kids growing up in late 80-s and then 90s boiled down to the point of "don't let anyone see that you are on your way to rent a VHS tape with cartoons because that will signal that we have a VHS player and therefore more things of value to be stolen". 

Also even though the iron curtain has fallen the values instilled in schools were still heavily spiced with soviet aromas: we still had the same school books (my brother 2 years younger had new books), the teachers were still soviet people at heart, but freedom and excess already started crawling in through TV and rented VHS tapes. ;)

Very confusing times to be growing up in. It definitely leaves a mark.

Also interesting how everyone finds Dmitry hilarious. To me it's just... normal :) :D

[Julia]

Also interesting how everyone finds Dmitry hilarious. To me it's just... normal :) :D

I don't know if it's hilarious as much as it is just refreshing. I mean, just this past episode, we had Michelle working desperately hard to pretend she and Dmitry are cuddly warm confidantes (trust Michelle to have figured out who the actual fan favorite is) while Dmitry pretty much ignored her completely because he had work to do. American high school status games clearly mystify him. That's pretty freaking adorable.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Julia

[Ananayel]

Dmity's QVC collection. Not bad, dumbed down for mass production obvs, but available in a full size range and not prohibitively expensive. I see 3 pieces I would buy right now, if I had a need, and I might get that wrap jacket anyway.

[xtra-innings]

I really like the skirt with the fringe at the bottom and I'm not really a fringe lover. 

I wish the side tie dress would have been crisscrossed like the finale.

 

He will be appearing on QVC tonight from 8-11 pm.

I also saw this interview : http://gossipandgab.com/64408/exclusive-interview-project-runway-all-stars-2015-winner-dmitry-sholokhov

 

edited to add : http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/13/project-runway-all-stars-winner-twice-nice

 

http://allprojectrunway.blogspot.com/2015/02/bpr-interview-with-dmitry-sholokhov_13.html

Edited February 13, 2015 by xtra-innings

[dbell1]

I want that jacket!! Time to go buy me something for V-day!

P.S. still giggling over 'sea whores', I'd buy a shirt full of his best one liners.

[Lamb18]

I like the purple and black swirly shirt.