Georgian Fashion Industry on a Roll
The Georgian fashion industry is taking over the fashion world, and however odd that sounds, it’s true! The process is slow but constant and unstoppable, it seems. For years, young Georgian fashion designers have been redefining what it means to create something from scratch. After independence, everything in Georgia was rare, including fabrics. It’s not easy to convince your family that you want to cut up a potential blanket to make something new of it. After the situation improved, it was easier to convince others to engage in the fashion sector and the revolutionaries of the early days were joined by creative minds hoping to impact the rising industry.
Now in 2018, Demna Gavasalia is the number one name that comes to mind when thinking about Georgian fashion abroad. He conquered the European fashion weeks and instituted odd catwalks in ordinary French markets to bring across his street/post-Soviet style. Away from fanciness, he embraces something that is common in Tbilisi: a new art of design, a design away from the luxury hotels of Paris and Milan making clothes out of daily life encounters. This even led to normal-looking, yellow shirts with imprints of DHL (the German parcel courier), which, currently sold out, have a price tag of around 400-500 Euro.
The international fashion industry couldn’t help itself but to dully notice this new emerging designer city, and Demna’s fame allowed many others to follow in his footsteps. Last week it was announced that the Tbilisi designer scene has achieved another major milestone, as the very exclusive Florence fashion fair opens their doors for Tbilisi-produced clothing. Pitti Uomo, the world’s busiest and among the most exclusive trade show, is showcasing six Georgian designers and their creations. In fact, Georgia was even named the guest nation at this year’s edition, bursting through the glass ceiling that hindered its fame worldwide.
The six individuals representing Georgia will show the fashion critics that Tbilisi is home to much more than just Demna Gavasalia. And this is extremely important and a huge milestone as it is the first time media has focused on the industry and not on the individual. Even GQ magazine warned other designers to “buckle up for the newcomers,” which will bring the Georgian fashion industry into an entirely new spotlight.
These designers, such as Gola Damian, bring a totally new ideology to the fashion world, as he was compared to the fashion guru of “A Clockwork Orange” style. Vasili Tabatadze, on the other hand, rather rolls with the color black, yet each season peppers up the creations with one additional color. Such oddities really generate the momentum which the country and its industry are famous for in Tbilisi, and finally, the moment arrived to show it to the world.
Georgia’s fashion industry will surely change the world’s perception and those of us here in Tbilisi should get ready to find these designers in the haute couture magazines, such as Vogue and Elle in the not-so-distant future.
By Benjamin Music