George Keburia, founder and designer of Keburia, a women’s clothing and accessories label based in Tbilisi, Georgia, approaches fashion from a place of thinking outside the box. The brand just released its Pre-Fall 2024 collection which features a variety of contrasting patterns, shapes and accessories, including the signature use of buttons. Drawing inspiration from retro-futuristic glamour in 80s sportswear, Keburia mixed various timelines in his designs, aiming to create a “back-to-the-future persona” the designer shared.
Another notable element for the label is its emphasis on minimising environmental harm through mostly practicing a made-to-order model, reducing waste from overproduction. Keburia has recently opened his first brick and mortar store in Tbilisi, Georgia, where you can find his collections.
What or who got you into fashion? Were you interested in the medium from a young age?
I have been interested in fashion for as long as I can remember. As a small kid, I used to love going through my mum’s OTTO magazines, which were such a luxury in Post-Soviet Georgia. I used to deconstruct and restyle the looks in my mind and I used to make sketches at the back of my notebooks.
As a self-taught designer, what have been some of the biggest challenges and rewards in creating clothing and establishing an independent brand?
As a self-taught designer, probably one of my biggest challenges was learning through doing. There were lots of experimentations, tests and trials in the beginning of my career. But on the other hand, I think the fact that I didn’t have any formal education in fashion gave me so much freedom to think outside the box. I learnt a lot when I started as a designer in a local fashion house. After a couple of years, I established my independent brand which has been really fulfilling for me.
What and who inspires you in your day-to-day life when designing individual garments and collections?
I can get inspiration from many things and people. It is difficult for me to pinpoint one particular piece about the inspiration. Usually it’s my friends or new places that I visit. I love exploring new destinations and cultures. I also get inspired by old soap operas and tv shows that I have been watching [since being] a kid.
When constructing a collection, how long will you have an idea in mind before it can come to fruition? Have you contemplated pieces and themes for a long time, waiting to create them, or do you conjure up ideas shortly before a new collection?
The process is always different for me. Sometimes I don’t like the idea and modify it within the process, or I don’t go ahead with whatever I was thinking of doing altogether. Often while working on a new collection, I go through old sketches to refresh the silhouettes that I considered as strong pieces but didn’t make sense in that particular collection. If I am short on time and I don’t have any specific ideas, I conjure new ideas in the process.
Describe the vision and inspiration behind your most recent Pre-Fall 24 collection. With its sheer tights, asymmetrical designs, sunglasses, buttons and more, what are the primary themes of this collection and its relation to the time of year?
One of the biggest inspirations for the Pre-Fall 2024 collection was the retro-futuristic glamour embodied in 80s sportswear. There are deconstructed sport 2-pieces and hats transformed into formal wear and power suits. My main mission was to achieve a mix of various timelines. I wanted the collection to feel nostalgic and at the same time futuristic. For this reason, I used many different materials, colours and processing techniques in order to obtain contrasting shapes, silhouettes and vibes.
As a curiosity, can you specifically speak to your use of buttons on all the Pre-Fall 24 garments?
In every collection, one of the signature traits that I love to work on while developing a new collection, are specific shapes and patterns of buttons and how they can be integrated into the overall mood of the collection. For Pre-Fall 24, we used different metal details, macro shank buttons creating an illusion of flat buttons and exaggerated and sculptural breast silhouettes achieved through hand-crafted half-sphere metal hardware.
How do you balance the demands of quickly evolving fashion trends due to social media with your vision as a brand? Do you ever experience pressure to jeopardise your artistic integrity to meet the general consumer’s wants?
As the brand grows and the commercial aspect becomes more and more important, of course we listen to the customer’s wants. I try to take those requests into consideration as much as they make sense for the Keburia aesthetic.
Compared to some of your previous designs, your most recent pieces seem to have more of a sophisticated element to them, with tighter, knee-length dresses being a staple piece. What was the motive for shifting the vibe alluded to through your designs?
I think I wanted to work on different lengths in this collection, which I was less excited to do in the previous collections. I wanted to experiment with new shapes.
Do you prefer to have a variety of elements and themes at play from collection to collection, or maintain consistency? When you do make a style change, what tends to be the influence?
For this collection, working on many elements was an interesting challenge for me. Based on the Pre-Fall 24, I wanted to create a back-to-the-future persona. I wanted to mix various timelines with futuristic and vintage elements, so that Keburia characters could travel across time.
What is the design process for each collection? Does it alter, or do you follow a similar guide with each new set of garments? How do you construct your clothing?
I have a different approach [for] all my collections. Experience from previous collections always helps me in [the] development of the next collection. I always try to learn something from earlier practices. If there is not much time left till the launch of a new collection and I want to finalise it, I usually work on the patterns myself. It gives me more confidence.
You mention on your website that sustainability is a value of your brand. Can you elaborate on how you incorporate sustainability into your designs and collections? Why is this issue important to you?
All Keburia ready-to-wear is locally handmade here in Tbilisi, which helps us to reduce the environmental impact as well as support the local economy. We always strive to minimise waste in terms of both material sourcing as well as production in order to minimise our footprint on the planet. For this reason, we mostly practice the made-to-order model in order to control overproduction.
Also, in order to make good use of deadstock materials, we usually donate fabrics to fashion students and small local artisans who struggle financially and who are unable to afford materials. Whenever possible we use environmentally friendly packaging, minimising use of plastic, and we recycle the packaging as much as possible to reduce waste.
Also, in order to make good use of deadstock materials, we usually donate fabrics to fashion students and small local artisans who struggle financially and who are unable to afford materials. Whenever possible we use environmentally friendly packaging, minimising use of plastic, and we recycle the packaging as much as possible to reduce waste.
Having become a more established brand, what are the challenges you have overcome and some new ones you face today as an independent brand and designer?
We had a very rapid and significant increase in demand in 2020. So, one of the challenges of becoming a more established brand and entering new markets was quick and efficient scaling of the business so that we would not jeopardise quality and fulfilment for our partners and customers. Luckily we managed to do so. As for the current situation, like for many other brands, the current market situation has been more challenging due to the global uncertainties and economic situation.
We have recently opened our first brick-and-mortar store in Tbilisi, Georgia. So, one of the new exciting challenges is developing the retail as well as expanding our presence on the global market.
We have recently opened our first brick-and-mortar store in Tbilisi, Georgia. So, one of the new exciting challenges is developing the retail as well as expanding our presence on the global market.
Is there anything from both a garment standpoint or event standpoint that you are planning for or looking forward to in the near future?
One of my favourite pursuits as a designer is working on a runway show and seeing the collection come to life. I am looking forward to doing a runway in Bucharest as a guest designer for their very first fashion week in October. I am also looking forward to expanding in retail. I enjoy the direct-to-consumer engagement and creating fun experiences with our community.
