Fashion icon Lídia Eckhardt recently celebrated 35 years on the scene. After a successful tour in Košice and a gala dinner in Sielnica near Zvolen, she organized a spectacular show for her friends, clients and loved ones in the Slovak capital as well. Bratislava thus became the capital of stylish fashion and tasteful elegance for one evening. Court models Eckhardt presented 88 new models, 11 retrospective pieces on the catwalk, and Lídia herself wore the round outfit. The host watched the smooth and problem-free course of the event from behind the scenes, which was not disturbed even by the short illness of one of the spectators.
“I want to devote myself to everyone, I want to share the joy with them, because this was a bit of an extraordinary show. We celebrated the 35th anniversary and it is so well deserved. I am happy that everything went well and that people liked it.” said a proud fashion designer to Koktejla, who was pulling out various period pieces from TV shows from her archives.
She supplemented the former words to the camera with excerpts and quotes from her autobiography and tastefully incorporated everything into the visual partitions between the individual parts of the show. The star hunted in her memory for several months before organizing the gala evening, which also attracted an acting diva and a personal friend of Eckhardt – Emília Vášáryová. The artist admitted that she imported her first piece of clothing from Lydia 35 years ago. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know where he went over the decades, but the soulful and heartfelt interplay between the first lady of Slovak theater and the first lady of Slovak design continues to this day.
We asked Eckhardt questions, what would she say today to the 29-year-old Lydka, who, in uncertain times, started sewing her future career with the first machines somewhere in the basement? “Probably nothing, she wouldn’t listen to me anyway. Let’s let our children go their own way, because children don’t need to be brought up, but they need to live properly and they will follow. But if she still wanted to listen, I would tell her, value your people who work for you, work with you, because they are the ones who create a mosaic of complete work. Value every client who enters your company. It’s not just numbers, it’s people who give content and meaning to your work.” said the fashion legend, who relies heavily on her employees.
And he adds: “Then I tell her that not positive, but negative situations push you forward. If you don’t want to do your job with love and passion, then you better not do it. And maybe the most powerful thing was at the end when I said, and guard your freedoms so that you can come back to yourself at any time. You know, because many times a person can be tempted by some tempting offer that appears so. And then maybe he is a vassal of that relationship. So those freedoms are very important,” thought Lydia, saying that the most important thing in life is love.
“We can complain about how bad things are here and there, but let everyone start on their own,” she left a strong legacy. At the end, with love in her eyes, she also mentioned her potential follower – granddaughter Olívia. “We are happy when we open all the drawers at my place. She is very happy. She is only 16 months old, everything is just beginning with her, but the most important thing is that we love each other very much.” said Eckhardt for Koktejl.sk.
