Leopard, come out: what were the trends of the Moscow Fashion Week

The fourth Moscow Fashion Week ended in the capital on March 18. For six days, the Manege was the center of attraction for representatives of the industry, the business community and the stars of the domestic show business. More than 90 shows of Russian and foreign brands were held on the site. Some designers turned to the royal aesthetic and brought knights and ladies in magnificent dresses with a crinoline to the podium. Others are in the traditional Russian style. Other trends include leopard print, layering, ultrashort shorts, and an abundance of fringe. For more information, see the Izvestia review.

Aesthetics of the past centuries

The Paris Haute Couture Week, which took place in January 2025, proclaimed the aesthetics of the past centuries in the modern interpretation of crinolines, tight corsets, frills, layered cuffs and frilly basques as one of the main trends. These elements were used in their shows by Christian Dior, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier.

The Russian metropolitan catwalk also made references to the fashion of the past. The guests of Moscow Fashion Week saw dresses with hemlines and crinoline at the show of the local brand Vereja. Ksenia Sobchak appeared as a model in one of these outfits. Sergey Sysoev fashion school brought knights in caftans, ladies in full skirts on a frame and with characteristic headdresses to the podium. The paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and their great contemporaries served as inspiration. The Maison Suzanna Bars brand turned to the Victorian era and created Gothic images with lace veils, dynamic cuffs, and large bows.

The brand Alena Musaeva from Volgograd is known for its passion for folklore, historicism and the identity of peoples. In the collection, dresses with floral motifs were combined with gorger collars, like those worn in the 17th century. The Zlata Peczkowska brand from Moscow also has a modern interpretation of such an accessory. Igor Gulyaev, who performed on the penultimate day of Fashion Week, took the turn of the 19th–20th centuries as a basis. He himself compared his collection in an interview with Izvestia with the Gatsby of our century. The main accessory of his characters was a pocket round watch, similar to those once worn by gentlemen, and eight-pointed caps, like the characters in the TV series "Peaky Blinders", became a headdress.

I read the collection: what Igor Gulyaev showed at Moscow Fashion Week

Sharp visors, long nails and Marlene Dietrich's lap

Russian style

Some Russian Fashion Week participants presented collections inspired by traditional motifs. The main leitmotif of the "Web of Patterns" of the Vereja brand, known for its attention to Russian crafts, were carved platbands, which, according to popular beliefs, protected the house from evil forces. On the catwalk, they acted as a set design, while in the products they appeared in the form of knitted patterns. Another theme of the collection was the recycling of old clothes, inspired by the tradition of creating knitted rugs. All this was reflected in the design of dresses, skirts and coats, where yarn was obtained from recycled items.

The Russian brand Solangel has focused on combining evening style with Russian motifs, which can be read in the lace details of products and kokoshniks. Another reference was the red color. Blogger Dina Saeva was closing the show in a bright red dress.

The Department of Costume and Fashion Art of the Kosygin Russian State University Institute of Arts presented a collective collection with elements of Russian folklore, where there are a belt with ornaments, glasses that decorated women's heads, and styles inspired by national dress. Anastasia Ryzhkova, the designer of the Penza brand Grushevskaya, also turned to native Russian motifs, although she did not present them so obviously. She disguised them in dresses and blouses with characteristic drapery in the chest area, in wide triangular cutouts in the neckline area.

Fringe

The fringe has become one of the most frequently seen details at the Moscow Fashion Week shows. Loom Weaving from Armenia has it in different lengths, made of all kinds of materials and almost everywhere — on skirts, dresses, tunics and bags.

He continued experimenting with the Big Brooch fringe from Yekaterinburg. The brand's new collection is a visual representation of water as a symbol of endless possibilities and change. The motif can be read in airy fabrics and styles, and the fringe here is associated with corals. It is found in a powdery shade, in black, and in a gradient from light to dark.

People to show: Rogov at Fashion Week, Dranga at the exhibition

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Ultrashort Shorts

The provocative trend for shorts that took place in 2023 has not yet left the catwalks. Gapanovich from Murmansk has them in bright blue and milky colors over nylon or tight tights. The designer combines them with a short jacket and boots, another option is with a shirt and matching pumps. ogo citizen from Yakutsk suggests wearing these with an elongated jacket, "Ekaterina Furs" from Moscow — with a fur coat.

A more conservative version was presented by the metropolitan Alpe Cashmere in the Teriberka collection, where cashmere and weightless fabrics were used. Designers have mixed microshorts with a maxi cardigan.

"The Leopard"

The animalistic drawing was adopted by several participants of the last Fashion Week. There is a lot of leopard in Alexander Rogov's shocking collection, and it is found not only in its natural shade, but also in gray. The stylist showed some pretty bold solutions. For example, in one image he mixes a leopard collar over a turtleneck with a skirt with yellow fur and purple boots, in another he mixes the same collar with a leopard jacket, but, to the horror of perfectionists, with a different size of specks.

Designer Igor Gulyaev supported the theme. In his images, leopard coats, collars, and hats are juxtaposed with a more relaxed color scheme, mostly black.

Layering and abundance of details

Fashion Week designers demonstrated complex multi-layered images. It was also in the collections of Rogov and Gulyaev. Even Alpe Cashmere, who showed mostly basic monochrome cashmere combinations, complemented the images with plaid shirts tied at the waist. The same technique was used in a completely different mood of the brutal collection of the young metropolitan brand Blndvsn. A cage is also found in HAKAMA (Moscow) — not only in the form of shirts on the belt, but also, for example, in a skirt, where it is combined with jeans. The brand actively uses different textures, asymmetries and chains in one product. The designer of the Abzaeva brand from Ulan-Ude, Nadezhda Abzayeva, achieved the effect of layering due to draperies, contrasting stripes and chaotic lacing on the products. A similar pattern is found in Gapanovich's work on dresses and blouses.