New trends and glamour at Tbilisi Fashion Week

The 12th season of Tbilisi Fashion Week (TFW) has officially opened in Georgia’s capital with a showing of local designer George Shaghashvili’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection.

TFW launched yesterday and will feature a mix of well-known Georgian designers and newcomers for the next few days before ending on October 11.

The main venue for this years’ TFW is the Metro entertainment centre in Rose Revolution Square. Here, designers’ show rooms, a lounge and catwalk are arranged for guests to visit and view.

At yesterday’s opening show models strutted down the catwalk wearing black clothes created by Shagashvili. His collection was inspired by Indian motives, which had earlier inspired the designer when he travelled through India.

George Shaghasgvili presented new collection for summer/spring 2016. Photo from Tbilisi Fashion Week/Facebook 

After presenting his all-black collection, at the end of the show the audience was in for a big surprise. Large streams of colourful material fell from the ceiling to the floor. Behind the vibrant pieces of different coloured materials appeared Georgian model Tako Chkeidze, who wore a Shagashvili-designed magnificent black dress with variegated details. After walking down the runway she removed the coloured pelerine piece by piece and showed off an impressively large black dress.

Day one of TFW featured a remarkable exhibition by New Nordic Fashion Illustration. Earlier in the day the show room opened in the Metro lounge, followed by Shaghashvili’s fashion show and followed by the project ArtBeat / After Party.

Journalists, photographers and industry insiders attended TFW events. This season’s media partners included Vogue (Italia, Russia, Australia), Elle Australia, L’Officiel magazine, Harper’s Bazaar magazine (Turkey) and more.

George Shaghashvili presented his all-black collection. Photo from Tbilisi Fashion Week/Facebook 

This year’s TFW was supported by Tbilisi City Hall, Georgia’s Ministry of Economy, Oriflame cosmetics, Georgian National Tourism Administration and the Entrepreneurship Development Agency. The general sponsor was Tbilisi Mall shopping centre.

TFW was established in 2009 during the Tbilisoba festival, held each October. The fashion event is held twice a year, in spring and autumn, and attended by local and international industry professionals.

TFW is considered one of the main fashion events in the Caucasus. The event supported the development of the local fashion industry, introduced new faces to the industry and promoted the export of Georgian fashion pieces abroad.

At the end of the show large streams of colourful material fell from the ceiling to the floor and behind the vibrant pieces of different coloured materials appeared Georgian model Tako Chkeidze, who wore a Shagashvili-designed magnificent black dress with variegated details. Photo from Tbilisi Fashion Week/Facebook

Click here to see the programme of TFW 2015.