Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week puts Georgia’s fashion on the map

Local and international designers, artists and creative minds descended on Georgia to showcase their vision and latest fashion trends at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi.

After the successful inaugural performance last summer, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week returned to Georgia’s capital for the second time last month.

Let’s Turn Georgia’s Fashion Industry into a Profitable Business was the motto of this season’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi, and to do this Fashion Week organisers invited influential buyers Kevin Mcdermott and Michael Rudolf to attend this year’s shows.

Local and international fashion journalists were also in town to attend and write about the event. Among them was "king of the fashion blogosphere” Bryanboy and one of most influential stylists and bloggers Natalie Joos.

The buyers came in Georgia to launch Georgian designers’ creations into the international fashion arena. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Furthermore, the Editor-in-Chiefs of American, Italian and Russian Vogue magazines were also in Tbilisi to attend Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

The five-day fashion event was covered by Marie Claire, New York Times, ELLE, Vogue and other fashion magazines.

Fashion magazines covered not only Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi, but also discovered some traditional Georgian clothes and items. 

Meanwhile, Vogue wrote article titled 'All the Best New It Girls Are From Georgia'. Fashion magazine published a list of the coolest Georgian women to follow on Instagram. 

Thanks to these publications and more, Georgia received global attention during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, hosted in capital Tbilisi on October 5-9.

Some media Georgia "a country with a flourishing fashion scene of its own” while others said "there are plenty of Georgian designers who have remained in the motherland and have much to offer”.

That is something that will help put Georgia’s fashion industry on the map - and its designers’ clothes into closets all around the world.

Hundreds of fashionistas attended the most glamorous Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Below you can find the highlights and the best looks selection of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi. Straight from the catwalk, here are all the Spring/Summer 2016 collections from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi.

Day First - AVTANDIL

The first day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi opened with a runway show by local designer Avtandil Tskvitinidze under his label AVTANDIL.

During the first part of the show slinky silk dresses made their way down the runway. Then AVTANDIL showed wide-leg trousers and tanks tops emblazoned with lightning rods.

Some of the strongest pieces were the designer’s statement coats: hooded trenches with a raincoat-type shine, printed with graffiti.

Silk red dress by AVTANDIL. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge

Some of the strongest pieces were the designer’s statement coats: hooded trenches with a raincoat-type shine, printed with graffiti. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Day 2 – Clean and minimalist clothing, easy to wear

Matériel by Tiko Paksashvili was a fitting opener for the second day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi. The designer showed boxy shirts and linear, knee-skimming vests made from raincoat fabric, patch-worked in white and blood orange hues, with oversized flap pockets. Matériel also presented showed robe dresses with delicate top-stitch pleats that gathered at the waist and large kimono sleeves.

Day 2 featured two Ukrainian designers. One was Sasha Kanevski and the other was Flow the Label, created by sister designers Viktoriia Balaniuk and Véronika Vèz.

Meanwhile, Georgian designer Nino Babukhadia presented robe jackets that fastened at the waist with a black leather men’s belt, while structured silk shirts had abstract illustrations made from a bricolage of colourful beading.

The day’s last show was Atelier Kikala by Lado Bokuchava. Atelier Kikala’s robe dresses were stellar, layered in black and royal blue silk.

Atelier Kikala Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Day 3 – Less is more!

Day 3 of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi presented Tamuna Ingorokva, Ria Keburia, ELOSHI, Aka Nanitashvili and Litkovskaya Spring/Summer 2016 collections.

With powder coloured shades and an ultra-feminine touch of delicate pastel hues in pink, beige and neutral tones, Tamuna Ingorokva created a very feminine and elegantly designed collection for Spring/Summer 2016.

Dress by Tamuna Ingorokva. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

The show continued with Ria Keburia’s performance. The Georgian designer presented a very bright and eye-catching collection by combining several cultural layers of the time, mixing the constructivist architecture and symbolic minimalist suits of the athletes.

Ria Keburia's bright and eye-catching collection. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

ELOSHI offered a stylish collection in its typical high quality. The brand created great looks with cotton, silk and other exclusively made fabrics with printed textures.

ELOSHI - Spring/Summer 2016. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Georgian designer Aka Nanitashvili was inspired by the geometrical shapes while designing her 2016 Spring/Summer collection. To create a sophisticated women’s style, the designer used pastel hues but black was also dominant in her collection.

Aka Nanitashvili - Spring/Summer 2016. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Ukrainian designer - Litkovskaya - showed a collection that revolved around the themes of Americana men’s sartorial codes (cowboy shirts and jeans), women’s ritual dressing and military uniforms.

Litkovskaya - Spring/Summer 2016. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Day 4 – Provocative and inspiring

Day 4 started impressively with the showing of Georgian designer Janashia’s Spring/Summer collection, which was inspired by the style of Tilda Swinton’s character ‘Eve’ in the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive. Janashia blended various geometric lines, shapes and patterns that created a mixture of present reality minimalism infused with lots of interesting details.

Another Georgian designer, George Pantsulaia, presented her collection of deep-hued and slinky eveningwear.

Later Diana Kvariani’s creations were presented on stage. Her colourful collection offered an advanced edge that played with contrasts within a high degree of functionality.

Georgian deisgner George Amirejibi continued the Day’s shows with a showing of his signature velvet collection.

Fashionistas were surprised by a "provocative and inspiring” runway show by a brand named U.G.L.Y, which united high fashion and street style.

Datuna - Spring/Summer 2016. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

The crowning show of Day 4 was DATUNA’s show. Very feminine long dresses and mixed attire made of flowing materials with light and heavily patterned materials that contrasted each other was what DATUNA offered in his Spring/Summer collection. In this collection his favourite colours were black, beige, red and grey while his textile choice was silk, wool and cashmere.

Day 5 – The end of the show

Young Georgian designer Mata Tsertsvadze opened Day 5 of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi. Despite being young she has already achieved considerable success in the world of fashion. Singled out by one of Milan’s most prestigious academies, her collections have attracted the interest of many well-known photographers. The name of her brand is Matassi, which can be translated from Georgian as ‘Mata’s property’.

Other Georgian designers Tako Mekvabidze and Anuka Keburia presented their Spring/Summer 2016 collection on the last day of the show.

BESSARION - Spring/Summer 2016. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Day 5 ended with a bang with a circus-themed show by Georgia-born, Moscow-based designer Bessarion Razmadze. Models teetered onto the runway on fat-soled platforms or flats topped with floppy oversized bows. The ringmaster’s uniform was transformed into a high-necked creamy silk shirtdress and a boxy oversized burgundy blazer. A bomber jacket, meanwhile, was stamped in a clown’s light pink and slate gray harlequin print.

This year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi was a huge success and undoubtedly the most glamourous fashion event the capital has ever hosted.