Tbilisi Fashion Week

Where am I: TBILISI FASHION WEEK
What I’m wearing: N Duo Concept Mariam Gvasalia, Dana Sidi, Portay Studio
Photos: Tiko Chigladze
Many thanks to: Rooms Hotel

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It seems like through the seasons Tbilisi is not only producing an army of talented young designer but also becoming a hub for talents from the x soviet neighboring countries such as Russia and Ukraine. Some of the designers who showed this season at Tbilisi Fashion Week admitted that Tbilisi feels very welcoming and nurturing of their talents and that’s why they chose to show here this time. With the massive cultural interest in the Georgian capital and its fashion industry, this fashion week brought along a lot of international attention. With local star designers like Mariam Gvasalia and Ani Datukishvili and some new comers from Russia and Ukraine such as ZDDZ and Lara Quint Tbilisi is definitely making a statement in the global market.

Mariam Gvasalia is the darling of the local fashion industry, she has a very loyal fan base here in Tbilisi and she is mostly known as a shoe designer and that is why she also starts designer each collection with the shoes. This collection’s highlight were the shoes, they set the tone for the mood and design esthetic of the collection. Metallic, asymmetrical, modern shapes that is. Some of looks contained half cut pants (where one leg is shorter than the other, there was a lot of nylon used in a kind of space – metallic nature, with matching wide belts that looked like car parts.  Most of the skirts were MIDI skirts as it seems to be the preferred length of Georgian women. of course there was a lot of Jacquard, this material was seen in many shows later on. We’ve seen dresses worn on top of pants with patent pop colored booties there was a special technique Gvasalia used for the first time which was Jersey snd down sewed into plastic creating a quilted effect. There were signs of Lace /crochet done by a traditional Georgian technique. Overall Gvasalia will make a lot of headlines with her latest collection and she remains one of the rising stars of Georgian fashion.

Ani Datukishvili This was probably the most memorable moment this fashion week, as Ani Datukishvili’s  show took place in class room in a gothic style school where all the guests were sitting at small wooden desks just like a scene from Harry Potter. Despite the child friendly location there was nothing immature about her collection, but rather quite the opposite. Ani is a Central Saint Martins and Marangoni graduate and this was only her second show, which is already an impressive fact. Her collection contained many elements, starting from tailored black flair suits with white sticking, some famine Chiffon dresses all of which paired with Colorful contrasted shoes and chunky boots (later discovered as to be a huge hit at other catwalks) Draped pleated tops and dresses with oversized coats and over the knee boots. There was a mix of silver sequin and yellow tops and many sporty influences with a wide range of puff coats matched with slightly flared pants, we also seen some knitted suits with white piping matched with yellow boots.  Ani is one of the main emerging talents at Tbilisi Fashion Week, her education combined with her unique style and ability to mix different sewing and craft techniques is definitely worth following up on.

ZDDZ – Russian born London based designer Dasha Selyznova of the brand ZDDZ chose to present her collection in a finance advisory office, which came as a pleasant surprise to the guest attending, it was like stepping into another dimension away from the regular catwalk set up. When entering the office we saw some young models portraying bored employees at their desk, the contrast of such young & youthful models dressed in very casual street wear pretending to do very “adult” work was amusing. They wore colorful track suits, loungewear, street wear, oversized t shirt, in other words you could say they belong to the  vetements tribe. Dasha Syleznova who is the designer behind this London based brand said she is more interested in the social expect of fashion and not necessarily in creating something new and never before seen.

Apart from all the fashionable moments during Tbilisi Fashion Week this trip included a bumpy ride to the snowy mountains of Kezbeki 3 hour drive from central Tbilisi. We made a stop at the Rooms Hotel and enjoyed the breath taking views and the pampering spa, it was the perfect way to end this trip and left a taste of more for next time!