Milan, Paris, New York. These cities are synonymous with high fashion and their respective fashion week events are among the biggest and most popular in the world. With that being said, the fashion world is constantly changing. New markets are always emerging and designers, journalists and most importantly buyers, no longer necessarily reside in the traditional epicenters. One of the most important new markets in fashion is Russia. The country has undergone immense change and that has brought significant appreciation for the arts as well as a consumer market that has exploded.
We are always interested in *anything* that is emerging and non-traditional and fashion is near the top of the list. Now in its 32nd season, Fashion Week Russia continues to attract more and more attention. Moscow has become a global destination for luxury goods and lifestyle (despite the frigid temperatures), and its fashion week event has been to intriguing to us for quite sometime. This year's festivities took place from March 11th - March 16th and we thought we would take a look at the offerings this season and bring you some of our favorites from the AW 2016/2017 collections:
*click to enlarge
Ksenia Knyazeva
Ksenia Knyazeva is an upstart brand with her first collection debuting in 2010. Hailing from the city of Penza, her fashion is pure Russian elegance. Leaving out embellishment, Knyazeva places her focus on detail, heritage and sexuality. From striking fur coats to floor length gowns, we liked that her pieces are 100% Moscow winter style. Also, bonus points for a bar and cocktails on the runway. For more, please visit: http://kknyazeva.ru/
Viva Vox
Viva Vox was founded in 1997 and has evolved nicely over the years. In 2005, the brand invited Oleg Evseev to become the creative director of the company. A graduate of Ecole de Couture van Rijn in Holland, Evseev brings a fresh European attitude to the fashion house and he has a particular affinity working with furs and leathers, which as we can already see, are big time favorites in Moscow. The oversized wrap coats and beautiful furs are quite impressive and successfully fuse progressive style with practicality. For more information please visit: http://www.dressone.ru/designers/viva-vox/
PIROSMANI BY JENYA MALYGINA
Pirosmani is the creative force of Evgeniya Malygina. Active since 1999, her concept is ANTIPODIUM: "No fashion, no trends, no season". Her works are incredibly versatile and can easily fit in to situations from casual to evening. While there's a lot of Russian and ethnic heritage on display in Moscow, this was one of the most current collections. Monochrome palates with impressive draping and long, sophisticated coats, made this one of the more progressive lines at the event. More for please visit: http://www.pirosmani.info/
Julia Dalakanian
For over 20 years Julia Dalakian has been designing in Moscow for local and international clients alike. For the early part of her career, she presented collections at events in Berlin, Milan and New York. She focuses much of her efforts on collaborations and capsule collections with the intent of increasing production soon. Her A/W '16-17 line showed a nice range of abilities. From contemporary to classic, Dalakian's vast experience shows in her work and we enjoyed the bright reds mixed in with black and one of our favorite colors silver. She's a talented designer with the ability to go in multiple directions and we always appreciate that. For more information, please visit: http://www.dressone.ru/designers/julia-dalakian/
Overall we were impressed by many of the offerings presented at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. Many of the participating designers pay tribute to the vast and diverse cultural heritage of their country and that was very evident from start to finish. While not always our aesthetic, there were some designers who showed the progressive, avant-garde sensibilities we are mostly drawn to. There's a lot of young talent in this up and coming market and the event does do a nice job of showcasing these artists and helps put them in the international eye. As Russia's importance continues to grow, it will be very interesting to see how this event will change (if at all) in the years to come. For more information and all collections please visit: http://mercedesbenzfashionweek.ru/en/
-JRS