Tbilisi Fashion Week Wrap-Up

On October 19, the 14th season of Tbilisi Fashion Week was officially opened. During the five-day celebration of Georgian fashion, established designers and newly emerged designers showcased their collections in 20 fashion shows.

With the support of National Tourism Administration, Tbilisi Fashion Week was attended by representatives of major international publications, including Vogue Italia, Vogue Britain, Vogue Russia, ELLE Russia, Fabulous Muses Blog, Harper's Bazaar Kazakhstan, and British GQ.

Givi Razmadze, editor of streetstyle.ge, shared his impressions of this year's fashion week with GEORGIA TODAY:

“Tbilisi Fashion Week 2016 saw the discovery of 14 times more new designers, as well as the promotion of already established ones. Respected international fashion news outlets like W magazine and Harper’s Bazaar all promoted and exposed Georgian designers to the wider public throughout the event. These very magazines dictate the fashion climate in the world and now, in our case, with a help of such foreign media presence, it became possible to mark Georgia firmly on the world fashion map,” Razmadze said.

Tbilisi Fashion Week featured a number of young and talented designers. GEORGIA TODAY talked to new designer Merry C, who had her first ever showcase this year.

“The name of my collection is #TasteGraffiti, inspired by the human mood. I wanted to create the type of collection that gives out positive vibes. In almost everyone’s life there comes a ‘grey period’ like those grey, dull walls present on almost every street- people pass them by, but no one pays any attention. It is enough to add some colors to those walls and suddenly everything changes for the better. I wanted my collection to have that same free street-art-vibe” Merry Shengelia said of her debut collection.

Razmadze commented on the importance of giving a platform to such new designers:

“This year we saw lots of new faces and learned about the works of new designers who were previously unknown to society. This is very important as newcomers give stimulus to established designers to develop and improve their products, as well as offer fresh, often risky but innovative perspectives. However, I would not say that this season was the best so far. I’d say the most outstanding designers participated in the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. But there is a huge amount of progress in Georgia’s fashion industry overall,” he said.

Razmadze considers the major highlight of the 2016 Tbilisi Fashion Week Nino Ramishvili’s performance: “The 20s vintage inspired collection had a special impact on guests, with the showcase style also being very original- the Sukhishvili dancers replacing the models of Fashion Week on the catwalk for the very first time,” Razmadze told us.

Natia Liparteliani