DALLAS — As Sergey Ermakov describes one of his dresses, a friend pulls a slinky evening gown off the racks, bringing it close to ask if it is the one. "Yes," the blind couturier says as he feels its beaded white leaves trimmed with gold.
When Ermakov lost most of his vision at the age of 30 from diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that causes retina damage, he thought his career was finished.
"It was a very difficult period," said Ermakov, speaking through a Russian translator.
But the now 37-year-old said his need to earn a living and his love for fashion helped him continue.
Ermakov, who opened his own design studio in Kyiv at the age of 24, has lost about 95 per cent of his vision but can still see fabric colours if he gets very close. To create designs, he relies not only on his design team and his memories, but also on his sense of touch.
Through a Russian translator, Ermakov said he "can imagine by touch." He said he can also get an understanding of what a client wants just by talking to them. He sketches his designs and then turns to his team to turn them into reality.
"(Being) blind, it's a more psychological problem," Ermakov said.
Ermakov brought his luxurious designs to Dallas this spring for a fundraiser to benefit the American Foundation for the Blind's Center on Vision Loss and The Fashionistas, a group dedicated to promoting fashion with exhibitions, scholarships and educational programs.
He put on a series of events, including two fashion shows featuring dozens of his elaborate creations, which incorporate tulle, taffeta and silk with such adornments as feathers, beads, crystals, pearls and lace.
Ermakov's designs revel in colour, and include not only intricate details, but also a sense of whimsy. A form-fitting gown with pink and white vertical stripes hugs the body before turning to pink tulle mermaid skirt. A strapless gown in red skims the body and then flares out at the bottom. A strapless cocktail dress with a voluminous A-line skirt is an explosion of colours, with flowers in red and yellow among green leaves.
"Nobody was prepared for the clothes. The show literally took their breath away," said Heidi Dillon, founder and chief executive of The Fashionistas. "The work stands on its own and the fact that he's blind makes it so incredible."
Ksenia Karpenko, an editor for Kyiv's What's On magazine, said that Ermakov is famous in the Ukraine for his evening dresses and is considered the only Ukrainian designer who does haute couture.
When casting models, Ermakov would put his hand up around his eye like a telescope to better see the girls, said Jan Strimple, who produced Ermakov's Dallas shows. She called the construction of the clothing "extraordinary."
"He understands giving you the lift and the definition," said Strimple, who added that Ermakov's work has a "fantastical" element to it.
"There are several dresses that Tim Burton's heart would beat for," she said. "It's Tim Burton meets Bob Mackie meets Alexander McQueen."
Dee Simmons of Dallas, who has ordered two coats from Ermakov — one in silky black and another in python — expects many of his pieces to show up on the Dallas social scene. Simmons said every piece he had in the show was a "wow."
"It was entertainment. I did not want it to be over with. I just wanted it to go on and on," said Simmons, founder of a nutritional supplement company.
A lover of cowboy style since he was a child, Ermakov said he was excited to come to the Lone Star State and even designed a special gown inspired by the rodeo for his visit featuring a frothy skirt of white tulle and leather topped with a cowboy hat.
Carl F. Augusto, president and chief executive officer of the New York-based American Foundation for the Blind, noted that 25 million Americans have significant vision loss.
"Sergey's success story does what we like to do — shatter the myths about what is possible for people with vision loss," he said. "People with vision loss can be superstars too."
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