Moscow Fashion Week: The runway reminded of glorious fashion past

As the fashion shows kept ending one after another I kept thinking to myself that it’s a cold country yet there’s so much variety in their clothes especially with the layering. The models were dressed in layers on top of another one in a very eye-catching way. I witnessed their presence in global fashion sitting in the capital of the world’s largest country last March. 

The Moscow Fashion Week 2025 was held from 13 to 18 March at the central exhibition hall of the traditional building Manege in Moscow.

Apart from newcomers and experienced designers from Russia, the show exhibited creations of other designers from different countries around the world. There were a total of 90 queues in six days. In particular, the works of young Russian designers were highly striking.

Many of the fashion enthusiasts might already know that a unique evidence of the fashion world has been found in this very city of Russia. The tombs of a man and two children have been found in a graveyard from 34,000 years ago in Sungir region near Moscow. There were thousands of beads made out of mammoth tusk found near the remnants of their bodies.

Archeologist at the Sydney University, Ian Gilligan wrote in his research paper that these beads were arranged in such a way that it becomes easily evident they were sewn onto dresses, sleeves and pants. This evidence proves that not just today, making stylish attire was also important in the ancient Russian society.

Additionally, the remnants of those bodies highlight another rare proof of the fact that those people from the ancient times spent time and labour not only on keeping themselves warm but also on beatifying the attires. The oldest sample of clothe archaeologists have found in the world is only 10,000 years old. Does that mean people did not wear clothes before that? ‘Of course they did’, claim the archaeologists.

Clothes are not sustainable, so they would obviously get destroyed in the passage of time. That’s why it might not have been possible yet to collect clothes older than that. However, ancient sculptures of Venus unearthed by archaeologists have proved that people have been nurturing the habit of wearing clothes from way earlier than that. You have to again come back to Russia for that.

Even thousands of years prior to the Roman Empire, such sculptures were crafted in Russia that are labelled as Venus by archaeologists. Apart from some regions in Europe, a few such female sculptures were found in the Siberian region of Russia also. The Venus found in Russia is called Kostenki.

This Kostenki Venus figurine from 30,000 to 20,000 years ago also bore proof of clothes. Looking at that attire made of ribbons also makes you realise how old is the fashion history in Russia. Especially, it gives an idea of what did women wear during the Stone Age.

Even without this bookish knowledge, what I saw with my own eyes were also quite ancient. In fact, I saw some ancient clothes and sketches of clothes at the Bolshoi Theatre museum in Russia that are at least 100 to 150 years old.

One of the oldest in the world, this opera house was established back in 1825. Some famous costumes donned by actors from different periods are preserved on a floor of there. The designs of those attires are still considered modern today.

On the second day of the Fashion show, the Russian designers of the new generation also seemed to have preserved the admiration I had left the Bolshoi Theatre with. Looking at the creations from brands like Zoteme, Kissilenko, and Ermilov on the runway made me think that these young designers as successors have found all the inspirations of their predecessors.

None of their ideas were lesser than the others. Some portrayed contemporary concepts on the attires, while some thought about nature. The varieties of colour and technological thoughts all sort of blended with the attires.

There was everything including shirts, skirts, verities of pants, long jackets, shrugs layered with tops on display. Some of the designers also brought a collection of reversible clothing which have no right or wrong side and can be worn inside out. And, now there is a lot of discussion about recycle and up-cycle. A few such creations also came up from the designers.

Some innovative ideas were showcased in slit gown, night gown, party wear, body hugging dress, cold shoulder or off shoulder dresses as well. Alongside formal wear, there were a lot of street wear for men on queue. The list included shorts, joggers, T-shirts, blazers and overcoats. Most of the Russian designers planned their collection keeping the summer in mind.

Most of the creations showcased by invited designers from other countries actually represented the culture of their respective countries or regions. That means, the Moscow Fashion Week also presented a broad picture from the fashion culture of different regions.

Two Indian designers, Nargis Zaidi- designer of CoEK- Khadi India and Samant Chauhan presented by Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) showcased their collections there. They also displayed clothes like lehengas and gowns with Mughal and Zardozi motifs alongside attires made of Khadi fabric, one of the core emotional attachments for India.

Indonesian brand REBORN29 by SYUKRIAH RUSYDI presented a collection of long-cut attires. Rusydi experimented with a variety of fabrics. The theme of onion flower was portrayed in her designs. Chinese brand I-La worked on baggy, lose-fitted attires. Apart from party gowns they also displayed jackets, coats and sweaters.  

Spanish brand Miguel Llopis showcased variety of gowns including off-shoulder, strapless, halter-neck, ball gown, A-Line gown, and mermaid-shaped gowns among others. This Spanish designer brand donned their collection prioritising the colours black, maroon and beige.

Meanwhile, Turkish designer Emre Erdemoğlu showed what type of clothes do the young Turkish men of this time feel comfortable in. Emre presented formal wear in leather alongside the use of metals and nets.

Three designers from Tajikistan- Safia Couture, Olimzoda Mahin and Ikat House- presented their collections in one collective fashion show on the fifth day of the event. The designers crafted designs blending the European culture with the Islamic ideology of Tajikistan. For the fabric of the attires they chose Tajikistan’s traditional Alacha, Suzani and Chakan embroideries.

Apart from the fashion show, there was also a fashion bazaar spread to several floors of the Manege exhibition hall. As many as 180 brands participated in Moscow Fashion Week this time, 100 of which came from different cities in Russia.

The brands set up stalls with their lifestyle products at the fashion bazaar. In addition to invited guests, common visitors also shopped for clothes, jewelry, bags, shoes, sunglasses, watches, home decor products, crafts, etc. there.

Meanwhile, experts from different countries spoke about sustainable fashion in multiple sessions scheduled every day of the week. There were a variety of other events there. Apart from the models, there was a noticeable amount of enthusiasm in street photo shoots from common public also.

The Moscow Fashion Week is being held for almost 20 years now. However, the global fashion industry has also shown keen interest in this fashion week during the recent years.