Indian designers and fashion industry experts took part in the third Moscow Fashion Week
At the beginning of October the third Moscow Fashion Week was held in the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, which was visited by 65 thousand people. This time, 200 designers from 41 cities of Russia presented their collections as part of this event, as well as representatives of the fashion industry from India, China, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Costa Rica, South Africa and Indonesia.
In total, 83 fashion shows were held as part of the fashion week. India was represented on the opening day of the event by the NITIN BAL CHAUHAN brand supported by the Fashion Design Council of India. This Indian brand held its first show back in 2007 at the Lakmé Fashion Week, receiving an award for the best debut of the year in the world of Indian fashion. Later, NITIN BAL CHAUHAN repeatedly took part in fashion weeks around the world, including in Tokyo and London. This time, on the Moscow catwalk, the brand presented a collection mainly in subdued shades with splashes of creamy yellow, blueand salmon pink. The designer relied on a combination of various textures and complex cuts with geometric decorative elements.
Representatives of India also took part in the second international forum BRICS+ Fashion Summit, which was also held in early October under the auspices of Moscow Fashion Week. In total, its participants included specialists in the field of fashion and light industry, experts and journalists from more than 100 countries. They were able to discuss the problems and prospects of international cooperation, possible investments and support for local brands.
In addition, following the summit, a declaration was signed on the creation of the BRICS International Fashion Federation, which was joined by over 50 countries, including Russia and India. First of all, the new organization will focus on developing partnerships between the industries of the participating countries, as well as supporting young designers and promoting them on the international market. Another priority will be the preservation of folk crafts and cultural traditions as part of the fashion industry while simultaneously introducing new technologies into production processes.
According to Sunil Sethi, Chairman of the Fashion Design Council of India, they have been thinking about creating such a platform for a long time – over time, its relevance has only increased. “The fashion world is guided by several hundred global brands, so developing markets need their own platform for our voice to be heard,” he emphasized. Russia, and in particular Moscow, which has been actively developing in recent years as a center for both business and event tourism, according to various experts, has great prospects as a center for such a new multi-vector fashion system. Moreover, Moscow, as admitted by the participants of the fashion week and the summit, can itself become a source of inspiration for fashion figures from different countries.
The desire of the Indian fashion industry to start cooperation with Moscow Fashion Week became known back in early 2024. Then Sunil Sethi noted that the country is extremely interested in developing bilateral exchange within the framework of fashion weeks, and in the entry of Indian brands into the Russian market. Following this, the Russian brand MEASURE, previously presented on the catwalk in Moscow, took part in Lakmé Fashion Week X FDCI in Mumbai, which has been held for 25 years now.