© Gulyaev \ Tsakharias / Photography: Daniel Annenkov

Hailing from Dudinka, a sleepy town on the remote northern Siberian plains, Yulia Vasilevskaya escaped boredom, bad friends, and last but not least, a bleak future, by heading to Moscow to further her education. While working jobs on the side, fashion brand YULIAWAVE, without doubt Vasilevskaya’s claim to fame, emerged by spontaneously creating a dress for her 25th birthday. Eight years on since its inception, the Russian designer has fully established her womenswear brand and has taken its operations to a new level by opening a standalone boutique in the Russian capital’s leafy Presnenskiy district. Occupying a 106 sqm. (1,141 sq.ft.) unit on the ground floor of a monumental 1930s residential building, Vasilevskaya tapped architects Roman Gulyaev and Maria Tsakharias of architecture practice Gulyaev \ Tsakharias to create a matching interior design. Inspired by the building’s bare concrete walls, the duo envisioned a palette of natural, monochrome materials that also underpins the signature style of YULIAWAVE.

Interestingly, due to a lack of many familiar finishing materials on the home market, the initial idea of using non-finish coatings and showing the building’s concrete shell was executed. Upon entering the premises, shoppers find themselves in a small yet lofty salon furnished with steel clothing racks lining the wall and in the middle where they flank a seating unit. An elongated sales counter ushers shoppers towards the back of the store, while overhead, a large LED screen features branded footage. Embedded in the small corridor leading to the back section is a small office and a bathroom. Equally light-filled thanks to three large windows, YULIAWAVE‘s back room sees an additional showcase of apparel, but also cabinets laden with jewellery, positioned opposite three steel-clad fitting rooms. Additionally, an entire corner serves as a lounge where to sit back in between shopping sprees. The new YULIAWAVE store carries the brand’s full range of womenswear, underwear, shoes and accessories.

YULIAWAVE
Bolshoy Kozikhinskiy pereulok 15 (Presnenskiy)
123001 Moscow
Telephone: +7 925 1634200
Mon-Fri 10am-9pm
Sat-Sun 12pm-9pm

© Gulyaev \ Tsakharias