In early December, we announced The Artisans and Craftsmen People Choice Award competition for favorite sport suppliers among the HMB community who can later compete for the title of the most valued HMB community maker, where, at the selection stage, anyone can nominate his or her favorite master or workshop. This time we are not talking about armor or weapons, but about all those elements that complement the HMB kit, such as shoes, textiles, jewelry, shields. It is important that not only customers, but also representatives of the Authenticity Committee, were satisfied with the quality of products. We were sent many candidates and we have already presented the first nominee, which was the master of the shields manufacturer, Henrikas Viteika.

Today we want to present you the next nominee and talk about the work of the craftswoman, well known not only in Russia, her motherland, but also far beyond its borders. If you are not yet familiar with the master Anna Muzalevskaya, we recommend you take a closer look, and if you are already proud owners of her products, send photos and remarks in the comments.

Anna has been sewing since her school days, and began sewing to order 12 years ago. The craftswoman has been making historical clothes since 2011:

“During this time, many costumes of different epochs and regions were sewn, from hand-made items from the early Middle Ages to the museum samples of ball gowns of the 19th century reconstruction. And in the past few years, my studio has been actively cooperating with foreign clients. In the finished product, it is important for me to embody all  the client’s wishes and make sure that the outfit is a good fit on the figure. Everything is important here: the quality of the seams, the materials used and, of course, the comfort of the client when wearing the clothes”.

Anna’s studio is known not only as a manufacturer of authentic clothes; she sews excellent tabards for HMB fighters. We all understand that a tabard is a short-lived thing, in battle it suffers first of all. However, this does not mean that quality can be neglected, says Anna.

“As with any other product, it is important to hear all the wishes of the client or clients, if it is a team order. To do this, we discuss design, approve materials and take measurements. Sometimes all this happens remotely, then the client sends the measurements himself. Fit is also important. The tabard should be comfortable, not constrain moves or distract the fighter. Ideally, if the athlete does not feel the tabard he is wearing at all, the weight of armor is enough for him! Therefore, the main criteria are lightness, durability, comfort and freedom of movement. And, of course, the visual component is also very important”, said Anna.

The atelier buys fabrics for products in warehouses or shops for a specific order. According to Anna, most often clients already clearly know what style they will sew, and she can offer them different options for the decor on the product and accessories. Then Anna and her client can choose the most comfortable and decorative combination together.

She is proud that her atelier has equipment for creating a costume of any complexity and embroidery on products. All this helps to bring to life any order with maximum elaboration of details.

Tabards made in the studio of our craftswoman can be seen today on the fighters of such teams as Old Friends, Partizan, HMB Academy, Nuremberg, Sarma, Teutonic Order and others.

“I also work a lot with foreign clients. These are not always reconstruction and HMB orders. More often – cosplay and theatrical costumes. For international events in my studio flags of different teams for the Buhurt Prime and Battle of the Nations tournaments, waist numbers,  marshals and Knight marshals outfit were sewed. I also made a large number of historical costumes for foreign clients. Basically, these are replicas of costumes of the XIV-XV centuries”.

From a geographical point of view, and Anna honestly admitted that besides Russia, she worked with clients from the USA, Mexico, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Israel, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Austria, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Poland, Latvia and China.

Sometimes the craftswoman shares her experience with her foreign colleagues, but this does not happen often due to certain competition in the field. But healthy competition is good, it spurs the artists to improve their skills and offer customers the higher-quality products. And it only plays into the clients’ hands!

Of course, Anna, as a craftswoman, has works that she is especially proud of. In reconstruction, this is one of the first sewn men’s tunics in the XIV century, that is now on  display in the Vyborg Castle.

We are proud of the craftswoman, thanks to her talent, experience and sense of taste, we can see so many beautiful authentic outfits at HMB tournaments around the world. We would like to thank Anna and her team for their work and remind you that Anna Muzalevskaya participates in our The Artisans and Craftsmen People Choice Award among the most on-demand and popular masters in the HMB community competition. Later, the nominees of our audience will be able to compete for the title of the most beloved master of the HMB community and receive a special recognition mark.

Social media links:
Instagram @anna_muz_atelier
VK https://vk.com/annamuz_atelier