Valentina Mitrović, fashion designer and TV host
Valentina Mitrović, our interlocutor, is a multi-talented young woman who is active in fashion design and hosting. She authored and hosted the popular children’s show “Stars with Valentina.” Valentina never stops teaching and inspiring the youngest viewers about the importance of education, positive values, and personal growth. Her show has been an integral component of Montenegrin children’s media content for seven years.
Valentina is well-known for her television success and her work as a fashion designer who makes childrenswear and showcases her designs on the Montenegrin and worldwide fashion stages. Her children’s clothing line, ZVJEZDICE, reflects her commitment to the arts, and she was recently featured in Milan, the world’s fashion capital. Valentina has made it her mission in life to use her platforms as a fashion designer and media mogul to provide a nurturing and engaging world for children, hoping to influence their moral and ethical development.
Valentina, your long tenure as host of the hit kids’ program “Stars with Valentina” has made you well-known to the local public. Why did you decide to focus on children and youth in your media work?
Even though I graduated from the Faculty of Law, I always wanted to use my talent as a children’s show host to create an author’s children’s show. My love for children’s programming began when I was a little girl, and I hosted many shows for kids starting when I was seven years old. For seven years, “Stars with Valentina” has been drawing a large audience of Montenegrin kids as an educational children’s show aimed at raising awareness, building character, and broadening children’s horizons. I was especially motivated by safeguarding children’s best interests, which is recognized as paramount in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 13 of the Convention guarantees the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, which is precisely what Stars aims to do through its content. Children’s safety is a top priority in European media regulations, which aim to promote and monitor the application of various ethical parameters of the information society and audiovisual services offered by new ICTs. We are pushing for more and more field trips accompanied by our young leaders so that they can document society’s diversity and broadcast it in our youth format. I am conscious that my actions profoundly impact the minds of the youngest generation. Since you mentioned that I’ve been a TV host for 20 years, I’d like to take this opportunity to emphasize the significance of my work in today’s society and the fact that I do my best every day to create a nurturing atmosphere where kids and teens can grow and thrive. Given the pervasive influence of electronic media on our society, keeping a close eye on the material that kids and teens encounter daily is critical. That being said, I can say with pride that the urge to create high-quality children’s entertainment has always existed. I am confident I am on the right track today when I see the profound impact I have on the youngest generation. I will never stop being motivated by the fact that out of 17 general television programs in Montenegro, only around 2% of the entire broadcast content is devoted to children’s programs. This data has not changed during the past three years and is 40% lower than the data from 2019.
It’s not uncommon for children’s television to serve as a valuable resource for learning and growth. But with so much material out there, how do today’s kids and their parents even begin to make sense of it all?
The quantity and quality of media content are increasing rapidly these days. All cultures are influenced by media messages in some way, and the relationship between those who receive and those who create these messages is intricate, dynamic, and full of life. From the very beginning of our lives, even at a very young age, media plays an essential role. Experts and members of the general public are paying close attention to the dynamics between the media and youngsters since they are the most impressionable demographic. Electronic media play an important and constructive role in society’s development, including education, culture, and the arts. However, the public is worried about the possible negative media repercussions. It means that kids will be better equipped to identify sound media effects and avoid bad ones if they are taught to think critically about what they consume. Since it is not easy to determine how harmful a program’s content is, parents play a vital role in their children’s media consumption and development, beginning at an early age when they pick out a cartoon for them and continuing until they begin to make their own decisions and create their own media. We live in the digital age, where information is readily available, which has many benefits and drawbacks, particularly for the youngest members of society.
I fight for the integrity of the children’s content I create daily, using it to advocate for moral principles in Montenegrin media. My goal in creating the children’s show is to support the kids’ personal growth, both emotionally and physically. Proper diet, regular checkups with a doctor, and other measures to maintain a child’s physical health are all part of promoting physical development in children. Because a child’s physical development— their growth—is necessary for their psychological development, we base all of our discussions on the presentation of different sports with the help of medical professionals, dietitians, and other experts in the field. I am mindful of the fact that fostering a child’s psychological development causes novel patterns of behaviour to emerge, as well as the acquisition of new experiences and the enhancement of existing talents, all of which contribute to the child’s enhanced capacity to function. I do my best to give the kids plenty of chances to meet their basic requirements, learn new things, feel safe, trust in themselves, and make friends.
You have a dual career as a presenter and a fashion designer. You have showcased your creations for children at Montenegro Fashion Week for several years. What sets your design style apart? What are your thoughts on Montenegro’s fashion scene?
Fashion is art, in my opinion, and I am behind the ZVJEZDICE label. As a child, I had unrestricted access to my mother’s encouragement and guidance as I pursued my artistic interests, which included an early appreciation for fashion design. Today, I can proudly present all my sketches and works that have been developed and showcased during the Montenegrin fashion weeks innumerable times. After being invited to showcase my newest collection of children’s coats at the Milan FASHION WEEK in Italy, I realized that my efforts, ability, and perseverance had paid off. I am riding high after successfully capturing the attention of the fashion capital. With custom-made, instantly recognizable sleeves and the option to incorporate vibrant colours, my design style will turn heads wherever it goes.
By fusing seemingly incompatible elements and creating new styles of clothing, I strive to make each collection better than the last. As an art lover, I had to figure out how to engage with children while still expressing my passion. I often stress that the Montenegrin women’s sense of proportion, flair, and elegance captivates me.
The Montenegrin market is tiny yet crowded with international fashion labels. How can domestic designers’ products-including your own-be more widely sold in our home country?
In contrast to many other countries, Montenegro is both small in size and population, yet it possesses qualities that the majority lack. There are a lot of bold individuals, amazing creators, and pearls. Regarding people and their style, I am constantly looking for excellence. Each of us gets to decide what we put on and wear. My models will soon be available in Italy and, of course, in Montenegro, so I will keep working and creating. I am confident that local designers will be more prominent in our fashion industry and that all works of art will eventually find their rightful owners.
What do you think, in what way do children who come from diplomatic families and, due to circumstances, stay in Montenegro develop and grow up?
The development of children from diplomatic families who have the opportunity to be educated in Montenegro is at a very high level due to different methods and approaches towards children, which incorporate various cultures, nations, and religions. The aim of every curricular and extracurricular activity is to ensure that everything is accompanied by tolerance and knowledge.
Montenegro, as a country, has a significant responsibility through its education system to provide children from diplomatic families with a broad education and prepare them for life in another part of the world. This is why international learning is crucial, meaning that they must learn broadly about the entire world, not just about Montenegro.
According to statistical data, a local child who finishes high school here usually stays in Montenegro, while children from abroad go on to study at various universities around the world. Therefore, the aim is to apply global systems in local schools, which requires good leaders who are ready to embrace major changes, and all of this requires significant investment. Change takes time. Through educational content that goes beyond the school curriculum, we strive to ensure that all children learn something new and that children from diplomatic families feel warmth in our school, “Zvjezdice.” We can be of help, and we are here to make a difference for Montenegro and all the children in it.