A fashion project for young designers has launched at Leo Tolstoy's Yasnaya Polyana estate. Leo Tolstoy's sweatshirt
21.05.2026 1143

A fashion project for young designers has launched at Leo Tolstoy's Yasnaya Polyana estate.

Fashion projects, presentations, and shows are interesting because they are sometimes created and held in very unusual locations, seemingly unrelated to the world of fashion. The world-famous Yasnaya Polyana Museum and Estate of Leo Tolstoy, where the "Top Hat, Ichigi, Sweatshirt" project was launched, has become a new landmark on the country's fashion map.

Leo Tolstoy's house in Yasnaya Polyana Leo Tolstoy's house in Yasnaya Polyana

On the eve of May 15, 2026, Applications for participation in the project laboratory are now open “Top hat, ichigi, sweatshirt”*The Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana" invites young designers to create collections inspired by the life and work of the great writer.

"Top Hat, Ichigi, Sweatshirt" is a project by the Yasnaya Polyana Museum that unites fashion and theater around the work of Leo Tolstoy and the shared goal of making the classic contemporary. As part of the project, young designers will convey the writer's philosophy of life through fashionable images and answer the question of what he and those who share his values ​​would wear today. The project's name reflects the evolution of Leo Tolstoy's approach to clothing: from following the strict canons of secular fashion to creating his own unique style.

Fashion designers from Russia aged 18 to 35 are invited to participate. To participate, please complete an application. Applications are accepted. until 15 July 2026 year

The names of the 10 laboratory participants will be announced on August 24, 2026.

The research laboratory will be held with 16 20 by September 2026 yearsParticipants will be given an in-depth look into the writer's life and his time in Yasnaya Polyana, as well as lectures and master classes from museum staff and Russian designers. The museum will cover the participants' travel expenses and accommodations in Yasnaya Polyana.

From left to right: Ilya Yakovlevich Ginzburg (sculptor), Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (art critic and historian), Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy with his wife Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana From left to right: Ilya Yakovlevich Ginzburg (sculptor), Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (art critic and historian), Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy with his wife Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana

Following the laboratory, the designers will propose sketches and concepts for themed collections, and then sew five designs each. These will be presented at a theatrical show at the Yasnaya Polyana estate next summer. Students from the Higher School of Performing Arts (Konstantin Raikin Theatre School) will demonstrate them to the general public. The show will be directed by Yakov Lomkin, a correspondence course major in the acting department of the Higher School of Performing Arts and chief director of the State Russian Drama Theater of Udmurtia. The best outfits will be commissioned for production by the BITTE_RUHE fashion house. The designers will also contribute to the development of a new line of museum merchandise and to the exhibition "Tolstoy's Philosophy in Fashion," which will take place in the fall of 2027.

The laboratory's curator is Lyudmila Alyabyeva, Academic Director of the HSE Graduate School of Art and Design and Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Fashion Theory: Clothing, Body, Culture."

The jury included: the director of the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate Ekaterina Tolstaya, creator and designer of the BITTE_RUHE brand Ksenia KudryashovaNina Veresova, textile researcher, multidisciplinary artist, and fashion designer, designer, curator, illustrator, and lecturer at the HSE School of Design Lydia Chugunova, art historian, designer, and teacher of the course "Branding in the Fashion Industry" at the HSE School of Design Elena Ermakovishna, and also the chief artist of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Alexander Kartashov.

*Project "Top Hat, Ichigi, Sweatshirt" The project is being implemented by the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate "Yasnaya Polyana" with the support of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation. Project partners include the Higher School of Performing Arts (Konstantin Raikin Theatre School), the HSE School of Art and Design, and the BITTE_RUHE fashion house.

On May 15, 2026, applications for the "Top Hat, Ichigi, Tolstoy"* project laboratory opened. The Leo Tolstoy Estate Museum "Yasnaya Polyana" invites young designers to create collections…
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