Highlights From Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia
Fashion

Highlights From Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia

by Maverick Li

The latest season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia saw the continuation of the phygital presentation format, with runway shows taking place in Russia's capital and 6 other cities, including Milan. Live-streamed at over 100 websites, this international fashion fest was attended by designers of all levels from across the globe. Whether it's runways in the Museum of Moscow or delicately sketched lookbooks, their collections gathered to form a melting plot of avant-garde couture, robust streetwear, and gender-blending glamour. Below, highlights from the Fall/Winter 2021 season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia.

Cute-Saint

The collection by Cute-Saint, the sustainable African fashion brand based in Nigeria, is inspired by the sea. Edgy jackets, flowy dresses, and some everyday friendly tops and tees all don various shades of true blue. And the design motives resembling water bubbles and ocean waves pop in the textiles, worn by models styled in the underwater Atlantic aesthetics.

Institute of business and design (B&D)

The Institute of business and design, a university based in Moscow, opts for a catwalk for its womenswear presentation. Blending edgy silhouettes with post-punk realness, B&D pays its homage to contemporary camp fashion by taking on a deconstruction of streetwear and incorporating a variety of fabrics.

Za_Za

Child-like imagination meets color-blocking couture in Za_Za's latest collection. While seemingly unsophisticated, each colorway stands on its own to make up a neon-inspired runway. Notable items include the double-breasted jacket in lush red, the oversized sweaters marked by pictorial symbols, and some over-the-top puffer dresses animated in shimmering black.

Viviano

Presented in a poetic lookbook, Japanese designer Viviano Sue fuses Eastern and Western fashion influences in his collection. Though mainly inspired by rural and metropolitan Japan, the ruffles become the unlikely MVP. Beyond that, Viviano's choice of shapes and colors ingrains an empowering feeling to this womenswear collection, as seen in the power shoulders on the structured trenches and jackets.

NASTYA NEKRASOVA

A holy trinity of surrealism, conceptual art, and fun imbues throughout Russian designer Nastya Nekrasova's latest collection. The lookbook features one model who remains static as you flip through the pages, but the René Magritte-ish outfits on him changes with each look, some are couture, some are ready-to-wear, and some are straight-up abstract exaggeration that is more artsy than fashion.

1377

Black and white is still the ultimate staple of streetwear, as evident in 1377's latest creation. This athletic ready-to-wear collection transpires a youthful, easygoing vibe, while its designs hint at both Yohji Yamamoto and Kim Jones' Dior. The designer's obsession with details is palpable in the accessible sportswear, from the geometric tropes on jackets to a human-shaped doll motif sewn onto the garment.

LINUS LEONARDSSON (UK)

Grunge fashion has never been more bright and colorful in UK designer Linus Leonardsson's gender-fluid, David Bowie-inspired collection entitled "Let There Be Light." In boasting a glam rock theatricality, Leonardsson's visual impact is both futuristic and nostalgic of the '60s space age. And the collection's non-conforming gender theme is achieved by a hysteric maximalism of materials, colors, and patterns.

Top photo courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia