Fashion Through Desserts: How 21-Year-Old Arthur Poghosyan Founded Christian.evn and Introduced a New Approach to Yerevan’s Café Culture

In 2023, 21-year-old entrepreneur Arthur Poghosyan founded Christian.evn in Yerevan, a concept café bringing together fashion, art, flowers, and gastronomy. The project gained recognition for its signature desserts inspired by world-renowned fashion houses, with the founder sharing every stage of the creative process on social media. Although Christian.evn closed its doors several months ago, Poghosyan continues to develop his ideas in the United States.

The Creation of Christian.evn: From Dior’s Iconic Dress to Signature Desserts

Christian.evn opened in August 2023 on Republic Street in Yerevan. The concept was to bring fashion, flowers, art, and gastronomy together under one roof, offering visitors not only coffee and desserts but also the stories behind their creation.

One of the café’s first and most recognizable desserts was inspired by Christian Dior’s iconic 1949 Junon gown. According to Poghosyan, the dress was the main inspiration behind the entire project.

Shortly after opening, the café quickly gained popularity on social media. Its signature desserts attracted considerable attention, and just four months later, Poghosyan expanded the project, opening a larger space at 16 Tumanyan Street with an extended menu.

One of Christian.evn’s defining features was its openness about the creative process. The founder regularly shared sketches, early prototypes, flavor experiments, and the technical challenges involved in developing his desserts.

“I have never hidden my creative process. I shared all my sketches and explained every detail on social media. Many people thought sharing so much information was naive, but I was confident that my methods could be useful to other pastry chefs. Our experiments could contribute to the industry’s development, making it more interesting for both consumers and professionals,” Poghosyan said.

The Rise of Concept Cafés and Christian.evn’s Influence

When Christian.evn opened, Yerevan’s café scene was already embracing new formats. Poghosyan’s project stood out by combining several creative disciplines, including fashion, floral design, art, and artisanal pastry.

In the following months, other multifunctional spaces began appearing across the capital. Approximately seven months after Christian.evn’s opening, Jazzve introduced its rebranded concept, incorporating a floral section called J-Flowers.

Concept by Vremena Goda subsequently launched Concept Bar, which also explored the relationship between fashion and gastronomy through fashion-inspired desserts, themed events, and lectures.

While these projects shared conceptual similarities with Christian.evn, there is no independently documented evidence establishing Poghosyan’s direct influence on their creation.

The founder himself addressed the growing popularity of conceptual spaces and designer desserts in Yerevan on social media, welcoming the emergence of new creative approaches within the industry.

“People expected me to get angry or upset, but instead, I feel proud. In Yerevan, dessert menus used to appear after dinner, usually offering the same honey cake, Napoleon cake, or gata. Now pastry chefs are thinking about how to create new experiences, shapes, and textures to surprise their guests. I’m happy to see Christian’s influence throughout my city,” Poghosyan wrote.

At the same time, he emphasized the distinction between inspiration and direct imitation, encouraging professionals to draw on their own experiences, art, architecture, and cinema.

“I would love to see experienced pastry chefs find inspiration in stories, their own imagination, architecture, or films. By copying my work, they might enjoy one successful month, but by developing their own ideas, they could create an entirely new category,” he noted.

Dessert as a Form of Artistic Expression

At the heart of Poghosyan’s philosophy is the belief that dessert should be more than something to eat. In his view, artisanal pastry can serve as a bridge between art, fashion, and fine dining.

“Dessert is also about self-expression, creativity, and presenting things in a new way. A painting displayed in a museum and a designer dessert can evoke the same emotions in a person. That is exactly why I do what I do,” the founder explained.

At Christian.evn, the creation of each new dessert involved developing sketches, producing prototypes, experimenting with flavor combinations, and finding the right structural solutions.

Recreating the shapes and intricate details of designer clothing in edible form presented particular challenges, requiring careful attention to each dessert’s flavor, weight, and texture.

In a 2024 interview, Poghosyan noted that although fashion-branded cafés exist around the world, his ambition was to create a different kind of experience.

Rather than simply serving desserts on branded tableware, he wanted to explore the archives of fashion houses, study their histories and iconic designs, and transform those stories into edible works of art.

International Recognition and the Project’s Next Chapter

In November 2024, Christian.evn participated in THE ARMENIAN QUEST 2024: Golden Autumn, presenting its signature creations to international media representatives and professional chefs.

The event provided an opportunity for the café to introduce its concept to an international professional audience.

Christian.evn is no longer operating in Yerevan. Its founder, Arthur Poghosyan, continues his professional journey in the United States, developing his vision of bringing fashion, art, and gastronomy together.

Article by Karine Terteryan