unpolished sapphire: 9/1/14

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

SAVE THE DATE! Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia is just around the corner!

The 29th season of MBFWR is just around the corner and will take place in Moscow from the 22nd to the 26th of October. The main venue for the event will be once again the famous exhibition hall Manezh, in the heart of the city. With more than 70 designers in the schedule, this is the largest fashion week in Eastern Europe.

Amongst the fashion insider's favourite designers, we will get to see the latest spring-summer collections of Alena Akhmadullina, Dasha Gauser, Ester Abner, VIVA VOX, PIROSMANI, BIRYUKOV, Yasya Minochkina and many more.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia has always been aimed at the support and promotion of Russian, as well as international designers. This season will hold a world premiere of Tony Ward's pret-a-porter collection. Before starting his own brand, Ward has worked with the world's most renowned fashion houses such as Lanvin, Dior and Chloe. His collection will be shown during the foreign programme. Accreditations for press and buyers are open, so get started!

ZDDZ London AW14/15

POUSTOVIT (Kiev, Ukraine AW 14/15)

Fashion Lab by Slava Zaitsev

PIROSMANI AW14/15

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

CPM MOSCOW Fashion Trade Show

The biggest Eastern European fashion trade show took place in Moscow from the 3rd until the 6th of September. With approximately 1400 exhibited collections, 52198 square meters and 33 representing countries, CPM Moscow was definitely an event worth pinned in the fashion calendar of any industry insider.

The three-day schedule was packed with fashion shows and presentations, seminars on retail and innovative strategies to overcome the current economical situation and various other fashion talks.

But mostly it was a place for buyers to identify the next season's key trends and to commission some new exciting brands and designers. CPM included a Designer Pool corner in the CPM Premier section for young emerging designers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Talin.

Below featured are two of my favourite ones: Nastasia Kirichenko and Yanina Vekhteva's SS15 collections.

Nastasia Kirichenko appeared in April 2014 at St. Petersburg Fashion Week and also presented her UNO collection at the Flacon Design Festival in Moscow. The inspiration behind her latest collection is based on the juxtaposed appearance of simplicity and complexity, the interplay of minimalism and deconstructionism. The use of Japanese and Byzantine cuts betrays the designer's deep appreciation of details. Natural colours like beige, brown, green, grey and black with pistachio, purple and pearl accents bestow a dynamic effect upon the gameness. Linen, barathea, silk and organza are used in a collection intended to appeal to creative people of all ages.

Nastasia Kirichenko SS15 collection

Yanina Vekhteva is a Russian label distinguished by minimalistic austerity, exacting cuts and a focus on dresses. The brand pays homage to tradition with fresh and immaculately feminine styles not overloaded with excessive details or colour combinations. Its impact is akin to a deep breath of fresh air amidst the chaos of a busy metropolis. Her latest collection consists of materials which are soft and mirror the theme of the collection : "Shadow and Reflection". Pure colours and peony prints help to generate a sense of balance. Prehistoric tribal paintings merge with contrasting expressions of tenderness. Fabrics such as tweed, chiffon, taffeta, crepe and cary are selected throughout the collection to complement the main material, silk.