Clothed in paper as skinny as she is, this model looks about as natural and comfortable as the dresses designed around her. Even as women’s evening wear goes, these works may be black-and-white in the literal sense but they are anything but casual or simple – and as a cocktail dress, well, one would have to be extra careful not to spill.

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paper dress design

Russian designers Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov of Doberman Studio specialize in the unusual, working with art, advertising, fashion, photography and (as this project illustrates) the intersection of these and other design fields.

A Metropolis-worthy parody, these works poke fun in a postmodern way at the cosmopolitan lives of fashion-savvy urbanites – whether intentionally or not.

graphic silhouettes paper fashion

Each dress highlights fragile and uncomfortable extremes of contemporary fashion design, while simultaneously impressing us with the clean aesthetic of model, dress and photo combined.

While they may be a bit much for prom or homecoming events, one could almost imagine these bridal gowns with accompanying paper-crafted bridesmaid dresses made to match – though whether you could convince a mother of the bride to wear such an avante-garde outfit is another question entirely.

Are these paper art dresses practical? Of course not. But they don’t have to be. The medium is perfect for a bold, graphic look, making a big statement for a photo shoot. Plus, it makes us wonder whether similar silhouettes couldn’t be recreated in more wearable fabrics, just to add a little visual flair and drama to the boring everyday fashion landscape of t-shirts and jeans.

stiff paper dress

“We are engaged in photography, retouching, 3D visualization, motion design and 3D animation. Since 2005 we have been cooperating with the largest online advertising agents: BBDO, McCann Erickson, DDB, Lowe Adventa, Instinct, 3SBA; Productions: Just Production, Park Production, Amber Production, Focus Films.”

“We created ads for companies such as Nestle, Mc Donalds, Coca Cola, Unilever, InBev, Visa, Pepsi, Sab Miller, Raiffeisen Bank, Bayer, Megafon, Sberbank and Beeline.”