Purple Fashion
[March 20 2018]
The best from Futurum Moscow 2018
As part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, and supported by the Museum of Moscow and the Moscow Department of Culture, the Russian Fashion Council and the Museum of Fashion presented Futurum Moscow, an event dedicated to bring up the most talented Moscow designers of the new generation.
“From day one of my fashion week, I pay a lot of attention to talented designers. This is the future of Russian fashion. Our goal is to create a platform for young designers to express themselves in a less traditional way than the Fashion Week format. We invite young artists to add some flavor to fashion,” says Mr. Alexander Shumsky, President of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia and Russian Fashion Council, “Futurum Moscow has no limits so we are open for new ideas. We try to connect art and fashion.”
Mr. Shumsky collaborated with gallerist Anastasia Potanina on the ARTIS Project, a unique exposition dedicated to contemporary urban artists and painters. In line with this vision, five selected designers from Futurum Moscow will be invited to present their installations and fashion projects during the next Moscow Design Biennale in April.
Aimed by a message of tolerance, freedom, gender equality, and body positivity, this new generation of Russian fashion designers mixes playfulness with political and social statements, influenced by the Russian underground music scene and historical references. Among others, the duo behind Nashe (“Nash” is the gender-neutral usage for “ours” in Russian) promoted their emerging unisex label with a performance presenting more fluid, inclusive looks. Inspired by the French student revolution in 1968, the young fashion designer Zhara called her latest collection « Liberté », while the new label IMPUGN (meaning “to question, challenge” in Russian) takes inspiration from contradiction, conflict, and the power of art.
Besides the men’s fashion brand 21dot12 designed by Nikolya Prokofiev recalls the story of Moscow clubbers and night life, suggesting the idea of rebellion, while the designer Roma Uvarov presented an extravagant and flamboyant collection inspired by the hospital subject and human anatomy.
“Talents do not even need to have a whole collection, Futurum Moscow is about creative direction. They are free to present themselves in any way. Today, the Russian Fashion Council gives from 5 to 10 grants for free shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. We support young brands in consulting too, making connections to the industry. This season we launched a joint program with a leading fashion e-commerce in Russia – Aizel.ru which sells a lot of Russian names but we hope to expose up to 100 new Russian emerging brands on this platform in nearest future” declares Mr. Shumsky.
Text Valeria Della Valle
