Ten years ago, no fashion event in Serbia could be imagined without a model Jelena Trninić today Vukic. She grew up on the runway, as she says herself, and then at one point she decided to withdraw from that world, get married, move to Bar and do other jobs that have no points of contact with fashion.
However, fashion connoisseurs have not forgotten her, and neither has the organizer of the recently concluded Fashion Week in Belgrade Nenad Radujević who decided to gather some famous faces from that world for the jubilee - the 25th year of the event. Jelena also got an invitation, and thanks to her participation in the event, she returned to her old love of fashion, at least for a while. The reactions surprised her and showed her that they have not forgotten her, and Trninić Vukić is talking about all this for Vijesti...
You said about the period of your life when you modeled that it was "the most beautiful period of your youth". You took a long break, what was it like to return to the runway again in those days?
I still think so! I started working at the age of 17 and I literally grew up on the runway, with many phenomenal people, from Jelena Mladenović and Nenad Radujević and my colleagues/friends, to fashion designers. How many controls were being prepared between rehearsals, make-up and hairstyles! In fact, we all grew up together, and shaped ourselves all those years. I am sure that growing up in such an environment greatly influenced my fashion taste and aesthetics in general. I am happy that I had that privilege in my life and now I see it even more clearly from this distance.
The break was long and natural. I stopped working at the moment when my life took a new direction and it was logical for me to withdraw and not appear. However, this was a special occasion, a jubilee that had to be celebrated, even though I'm not kidding myself now (laughs). My friends forced me, I have to admit.
The return was completely natural and that surprised me a lot! I think we all felt that way. It's as if after that point from ten years ago, everything just continued where it left off, completely smoothly. I enjoyed all that chaos and preparation, and the atmosphere that has been a part of my life for a very long time. And then, to top it all off, the audience that greets you with a standing ovation. I almost cried!
When you received an invitation to participate in Fashion Week, how did you react?
I said - No way! (laughs) And that's what I really thought. It's a strange feeling, I can't explain it. Getting out of the comfort zone, returning to something that was crossed out a long time ago, literally like traveling through time. It seems tempting but, thank you... However... I did not resist the pressure of my colleagues, my godmother Adriane Čortan Simić i Aleksandre Komadinić, which together made me change my mind, and I thank them for that!
I imagine that this participation brought back many memories for you. Now, when you had that unforgettable experience, did you realize that you missed the runway all these years?
The atmosphere itself brought me back to a long ago carefree time of youth madness! The backstage is full of various people, everyone is running somewhere, some are ironing the models, others are applying make-up, others are trying on the model, music is playing, everything is busy and crazy. Well, then we all remembered how it was, everyone told their own anecdote, whether they were models or creators! Well, imagine when it's the menu Zvonko Markovic said: "Trno, you opened my first fashion show! The Zvonko!” Beautiful memories. Happiness, pride and joy that we are all together again.
I usually subconsciously return to that carefree time. Whenever life squeezes me, I dream of fashion shows and enjoy myself, but that escape into the past really lasts as long as a dream, a second or two. Memories are written in thoughts, heart, photos and that's where they should be. I love where I am and who I am now, because I've worked hard for it all these years, and for me there is no greater happiness when I return from traveling or work to my home and my boys.
Many top models in the world, like Naomi, still appear in fashion shows as models. Considering that a few of you have been really big names on our scene, can you be expected to walk the runway every now and then?
Uh, well we can't really compare to Naomi! But thanks. As far as I'm concerned, this was “once in a hundred years” because anything more than that doesn't make sense for many reasons. I think all my colleagues would say the same thing. Time has passed, we are busy with other things, and just as the runway doesn't need us, new faces are coming, so we don't need it either. Except here on such a special occasion.
Do people from the fashion world recognize Jelena Trninić today?
I have to admit that I was very surprised by how much! I've been out of fashion trends and public life in general for so long that I just thought everyone had forgotten me, which would be completely natural and normal. However! When I entered the backstage, all I could hear was Thorn, Thorn, Thorn, from all sides. I thought it looked like me, and for the first hour she was on the verge of tears hugging all those people who built their names and their careers together with me. I have to mention some of them: Zvonko Marković, Diana Macura, Ana Ljubinković, Budislava Keković, Sonja Krstić, Peđa Nerić, Katarina Puzić, from the model Ana Ostojic, Agneta Azirović, Milica Mihajlović, Nina Reljic, Andrijana Belović, Ivana Jokic, Danijel Stevanović, Vlada Cvetković and many, many others. We worked a lot and socialized a lot and that stays with all of us forever.
And going on stage is a special story. We were not there that evening because of us, but because of Nenad Radujević, who created the fashion scene of Serbia, who is responsible for the fact that we exist today on the fashion map of the world. We were all there to support this phenomenal project that resists time, crises, penury and a general social collapse. No one even thought about themselves, the fashion show is a fashion show. But then it comes out Tarlac, standing ovation, Ines, standing ovation, Zip Yoma, standing ovations, and somewhere near the end I too: Standing ovations! Wow! The audience that was there that evening, along with the Belgrade Fashion Week for the entire 25 years, also remembers us who are part of another time, and she made it clear to us with applause. My heart is full!
As someone who was one of the first to have the opportunity to try out the creations of both domestic and foreign creators and brands, how do you view fashion today?
Today, the primary thing for me is to be comfortable and then beautiful, and it used to be the other way around (laughs). I follow fashion just enough to keep up to date, I'm interested in trends on the level of - I like it, I don't like it. I like to have some wearable detail and that's it. I follow local creators, it's much more interesting than global trends, at least for me. My heart is always full when I see how many famous foreign personalities, for example, love Ana Ljubinković, who is still inimitable, who sewed my wedding dress and whose fashion shows have always been something special for all of us. I particularly enjoy that.
Many models try their hand at being designers after their careers. How attracted are you to that world?
I am attracted only to the extent of supporting all my talented friends, who have used their experience and knowledge and talent to continue to deal with fashion from a completely different angle and are very successful in it.
Fashion is still adapted mostly to young people
While you were modeling, you participated in numerous campaigns, commercials, videos... What kind of projects would you accept today?
I didn't think about it... I would probably accept something in which I would be comfortable on all topics, and preferably a campaign that deals with a middle-aged or older woman, because it seems to me that fashion is still adapted mostly to young people, and times have changed. And we women 40+ or 50+ etc., like to look beautiful (laughs). There aren't many mature women with normal bodies in advertisements and fashion shows. That's why, for example, I really like Vivienne Westwood. She celebrates women of all ages and that is very brave and above all necessary.
Bonus video:
