Style is the best visual form of communication, knowing how to use it, we can tell more about ourselves to others. This tool of self-expression is necessary for every person.
The fashion industry is a unique platform that brings together bright and talented people, regardless of their nationality, affiliation to a particular religious denomination, gender and sexual orientation. In the world of fashion, gender boundaries are almost blurred. I must say that designers have been actively playing games with dressing up for the last 40 years. They dress the boys in lace, blouses with bows and frills, and the girls in masculine suits and shouldered jackets and coats. Demonstrating that gender no longer determines appearance, fashion brands are increasingly combining men’s and women’s collections, releasing unisex models.
“Fashion is neutral territory. With so many amazing designs on offer in today’s industry, no one should be limited in their clothing due to strict gender restrictions imposed by society. The task of stylists is to help all people find themselves, their image and style with the help of clothes,” a well-known fashion stylist and fashion expert Daria Beloivan shares her opinion in a conversation with Psychologies.
Daria is one of those caring and progressive top stylists who promote “non-gender” clothing and actively help transform people whose gender identity did not match the one assigned at birth. She was born in Moscow. She started her career in the fashion industry as a professional model. The rise of a career came during the years of work in the famous Moscow Fashion House Vyacheslav Zaitsev. There, under the guidance of the great designer, she was able to fully reveal her multifaceted talent not only as a model, but also as a fashion stylist.
Daria was one of the top 20 best lingerie supermodels on the Russian catwalk, was the queen of the Wild Orchid company, opened all the brand’s shows, including the Wild Orchid Grand Defile. In 2016, Daria received a job offer and flew to Italy to work as a stylist. By this time, she had already stylized many shows on her own, participated in collaborations with world famous brands: Borsalino, Belstaff, Balmain, Zadig & Voltaire, Coach, Bally, was a personal stylist for famous faces of Russian show business and Runet.
Today, the Russian fashion expert is invited to major fashion events. As a guest of honor, she always takes a place in the front rows of key international shows and Fashion Weeks in Paris, Milan, New York. She is invited to the expert jury of leading industry competitions. Today, Daria lives in the USA, leads online style marathons, writes fashion reviews for her online magazine, collaborates with famous photographers, stylizes photography and brand shows. At fashion events and shows, Daria Beloyvan meets completely different people – from streetstyle participants to catwalk models and all those who prepare shows backstage. There are many representatives of the LGBT community among them and, unfortunately, not all of them can still feel free, openly express their feelings. Daria seeks to support such people, help to be herself, find her own style.
Daria Beloyvan: “I was born and raised in Russia. She lived in Italy for many years. And only when I was in the USA, I was able to see the manifestation of freedom in a full-scale perspective. I love America not only for the fact that it is a country of great opportunities, but also for its boundless tolerance. There are a lot of representatives of sexual minorities in the creative environment in Miami, and the transgender trend is very clearly visible here. Here people are not afraid to be themselves, freely express their feelings, demonstrate their individuality. This is wonderful, because everyone has the right to make their own choice in everything.
Daria helps such people to open up in their individual image for free. She sorts out the existing wardrobe with them, gives her professional recommendations, draws up a shopping route, selects certain images. It gives each of them the opportunity to become a happy person regardless of gender. Thus, Daria has already helped more than a dozen people free of charge. “Fortunately, today one can clearly trace the desire of fashion brands to be gender-neutral and create stylish clothes for a person, and not for a representative of a particular gender. Because the concept of style is associated with individuality and freedom of expression, and not with a tick in the “gender” column, sums up our conversation with international stylist Daria Beloivan.
Today, the most tolerant attitude towards representatives of the LGBT community is observed in the United States, the Netherlands and France. More and more people are beginning to understand that everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the right to happiness and a quality life without fear and embarrassment. A huge army of specialists is working to help these people adapt to life, find themselves, their calling, friends. And it’s not just employees of social and psychological services. By her example, Daria Beloyvan proved that fashion stylists can also help people with a non-traditional orientation – each of them can make others happy.