MOJEH meets Valentina Bezuhanova, one third of the founding trio behind Australian-based accessory label By Far, the brand she set up with twin sister Sabina Gyosheva and best friend Denitsa Bumbarova…
How does your average work day begin?
My day starts at 6am with a double espresso, cold water and a bunch of emails to answer. By 7:30am I leave to take my son to school. The whole team gathers at 9:00am sharp at the office where we all start with a quick brainstorming session over collections, how we can stay closer to our By Far girls, and lots of other cool ideas.
What does your afternoon/evening entail?
Our team is spread globally, so most of our meetings are on the phone. I’m usually back home at 6:00pm, and spend quality time with the kids (we have four kids between the three co-founders.) Once they go to bed, our working day continues because the team on the other side of world is just waking up. I usually go to bed at around 2am with a book.
Founders of By Far: Sabina Gyosheva, Valentina Bezuhanova and Denitsa Bumbarova
How did the label come to be?
Like all great things, it started with a love affair with fashion. Sabina and I had so many ideas about what we wanted to wear and see in the marketplace. Things started to come together, and the puzzle was almost complete when we found a small, family-operated factory where we wanted to produce. Then we found Italian leathers we loved and of course, the community of By Far girls we wanted to represent with our designs.
Are there pieces you revisit every time – signature shapes?
While it’s important for us to look ahead and constantly change with each season, we’re also sentimental of certain styles from our previous collections which you will discover reiterated in new and exciting fabrications such as the Tanya mule and Rachel baguette. For FW19 we’ve really gone above and beyond with so many new shapes and fantastic silhouettes that we are beyond thrilled to share with everyone.
The Diana heel, BY FAR
What has inspired you for the AW19 collection?
A common theme about the Artist and the Muse kept coming up throughout the whole process of creating this collection. The silhouettes have a classic ’90s feel while an artistic twist alters the whole vibe with whimsical colours, textures and shapes. It’s timeless and elegant but elevated with slight exaggeration, and is most of all intended to be fun. We want girls to feel good about wearing it.
What materials did you choose to work with in this collection?
We wanted to explore texture as much as colour this season with splashes of lime green and turquoise on decadent plissé, red and blue snake prints and different variations of our staple crocodile emboss.
Croc emboss Diana heel, BY FAR
Are there pieces you revisit every time?
While it’s important for us to look ahead and constantly change with each season, we’re also sentimental about certain styles from our previous collections. You’ll discover them reiterated in exciting new fabrications like the Tanya mule and Rachel baguette. For AW19, we’ve really gone above and beyond with so many new shapes and fantastic silhouettes.
How does this collection differ from previous seasons?
I feel it’s more grown up in a sense yet at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously. There is a palpable evolution in our aesthetic which is exciting as we feel like we’re changing with our customer.
By Far is available in Dubai at Bloomingdale’s, The Dubai Mall; Boutique 1, Mall of The Emirates; Level Shoes, The Dubai Mall
