MOSCOW, Sept 15 — This year Moscow decided to go toe-to-toe with New York Fashion, organising the very-first edition of its Fashion Parade on September 9 amidst its famous colorful monuments. Paris Modes TV’s Sophie de Champsavin reports.

It was at dusk that the international press and local fashionistas were invited to take in the collections of over 15 designers from Russia and former Soviet republics. The models walked a catwalk that was encircling a fountain topped with 16 sculptures that symbolized the friendship between the former USSR’s peoples. The modern yet traditional shows were coordinated by producer Andrey Fomin under the mandate of unifying nationalities through fashion.

Among the designers present were Uzbek label Lali, which works with refined patterns that highlight artisanal savoir-faire, and Igor Chapurin, one of the most internationally known Russian designers, who has been showing in Paris for over 12 seasons. 

"I told with the language of modern design the story of Anna Karenina, the history of the family of Nicholas II. I talked about Russian culture, about Russian colors. We are really a very designer brand. A brand that creates more architecture than simple things. Therefore, intellectuality is in the cut, in the inner world of our things. We think a lot about fabrication and textures, but design, architecture is always more important for us,” explained Chapurin.

The event, which was the first of its kind, shows that, in spite of globalisation, each designer tells a different story, and that fashion can unite nationalities under a new kind of dialogue. — AFP-Relaxnews