The fourth Aurora Fashion Week kicked off Monday with a press conference hosted by Jenny Lombardo, guest speaker and world fashion and design director of W hotels. That same evening, the Fashion Next cocktail party was the first in a series of social events taking place in St Petersburg, ringing in the new season.

This time around, Aurora Fashion Week’s organizers say one of the highlights of the festival will be a catwalk show of the Louis Vuitton collection. The fashion show will present two different outfits for each pair of shoes, comprising one day outfit and one evening outfit.

“The Louis Vuitton fashion show is one of the major events of the week, demonstrating the loyalty and high interest of the leading fashion houses to Aurora Fashion Week,” said the event’s organizers.

The show-stopper of the fashion week looks set to be “Inspiration,” which represents a series of fashion shows based on research into the phenomenon of fashion. The Manezh exhibition hall — the main location of the fashion week — will host a fashion show of vintage dresses belonging to fashion historian Mara Parmegiani. The “Inspiration” program will also include the final round of a competition for young designers organized by Grazia magazine.

The fashion week is expected to attract more than 80 professionals from the fashion world such as buyers, journalists, designers, stylists and celebrity bloggers to St. Petersburg.

Aurora Fashion Week, which runs through Oct. 16, is mostly directed toward industry professionals. This time around, it has been timed to coincide with the international fashion calendar.

“Aurora Fashion Week opens at the same time as International Fashion Week and is one of the key events in the regional as well as federal policy of Russia in the culture and fashion industry,” said the event’s organizers.

“The high regional importance of Aurora Fashion Week and its position in the context of contemporary fashion industry defines its unique status, which has been founded as a dialogue between culture, art and fashion.”

The spring-summer 2012 fashions showcased at Aurora Fashion Week will be presented at the “Catwalk,” “Ambient” and “Inspiration” programs. Exclusive premieres of all the new collections will be shown from Oct. 13 through Oct. 15, with most of them being presented as part of the “Showroom” program.

During the “Catwalk” program, the new collections of Alexandre Arngoldt, Kute, Sandra Straukaite, Bessarion, Jana Sagetti, Kamenskaya and Kononova (Kiev) and Petar Petrov will be shown, as well as fashion shows by the internationally acclaimed brands Custo Barcelona and Tosha.

Despite being primarily oriented toward fashion professionals, the fashion week will offer a series of innovative programs for less well known designers. One of the programs, “Ambient,” which runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 16, will showcase clothing by young Petersburg designers at various locations around the city. Among the participants are Osome2some, Cat’s Production and Homoconsommutos.

The fashion week is not just about daring designs and controversial clothing. This season’s event will have an educational component in the form of the “Fashionomica” conference, a platform for discussion and brainstorming on the effective synthesis of fashion and economy as the basis of a successful fashion industry.

Another alternative aspect of the event is the Ready-to-Read festival, which is taking place with the support of the Russian National Library and the St. Petersburg Dom Knigi bookstore chain. The festival aims to promote art, fashion, design and contemporary photography.

Avrora Fashion Week runs from Oct. 10 to 16 at locations around the city. For a full schedule of events.The fourth Aurora Fashion Week kicked off Monday with a press conference hosted by Jenny Lombardo, guest speaker and world fashion and design director of W hotels. That same evening, the Fashion Next cocktail party was the first in a series of social events taking place in St Petersburg, ringing in the new season.

This time around, Aurora Fashion Week’s organizers say one of the highlights of the festival will be a catwalk show of the Louis Vuitton collection. The fashion show will present two different outfits for each pair of shoes, comprising one day outfit and one evening outfit.

“The Louis Vuitton fashion show is one of the major events of the week, demonstrating the loyalty and high interest of the leading fashion houses to Aurora Fashion Week,” said the event’s organizers.

The show-stopper of the fashion week looks set to be “Inspiration,” which represents a series of fashion shows based on research into the phenomenon of fashion. The Manezh exhibition hall — the main location of the fashion week — will host a fashion show of vintage dresses belonging to fashion historian Mara Parmegiani. The “Inspiration” program will also include the final round of a competition for young designers organized by Grazia magazine.

The fashion week is expected to attract more than 80 professionals from the fashion world such as buyers, journalists, designers, stylists and celebrity bloggers to St. Petersburg.

Aurora Fashion Week, which runs through Oct. 16, is mostly directed toward industry professionals. This time around, it has been timed to coincide with the international fashion calendar.

“Aurora Fashion Week opens at the same time as International Fashion Week and is one of the key events in the regional as well as federal policy of Russia in the culture and fashion industry,” said the event’s organizers.

“The high regional importance of Aurora Fashion Week and its position in the context of contemporary fashion industry defines its unique status, which has been founded as a dialogue between culture, art and fashion.”

The spring-summer 2012 fashions showcased at Aurora Fashion Week will be presented at the “Catwalk,” “Ambient” and “Inspiration” programs. Exclusive premieres of all the new collections will be shown from Oct. 13 through Oct. 15, with most of them being presented as part of the “Showroom” program.

During the “Catwalk” program, the new collections of Alexandre Arngoldt, Kute, Sandra Straukaite, Bessarion, Jana Sagetti, Kamenskaya and Kononova (Kiev) and Petar Petrov will be shown, as well as fashion shows by the internationally acclaimed brands Custo Barcelona and Tosha.

Despite being primarily oriented toward fashion professionals, the fashion week will offer a series of innovative programs for less well known designers. One of the programs, “Ambient,” which runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 16, will showcase clothing by young Petersburg designers at various locations around the city. Among the participants are Osome2some, Cat’s Production and Homoconsommutos.

The fashion week is not just about daring designs and controversial clothing. This season’s event will have an educational component in the form of the “Fashionomica” conference, a platform for discussion and brainstorming on the effective synthesis of fashion and economy as the basis of a successful fashion industry.

Another alternative aspect of the event is the Ready-to-Read festival, which is taking place with the support of the Russian National Library and the St. Petersburg Dom Knigi bookstore chain. The festival aims to promote art, fashion, design and contemporary photography.

Avrora Fashion Week runs from Oct. 10 to 16 at locations around the city. For a full schedule of events.The fourth Aurora Fashion Week kicked off Monday with a press conference hosted by Jenny Lombardo, guest speaker and world fashion and design director of W hotels. That same evening, the Fashion Next cocktail party was the first in a series of social events taking place in St Petersburg, ringing in the new season.

This time around, Aurora Fashion Week’s organizers say one of the highlights of the festival will be a catwalk show of the Louis Vuitton collection. The fashion show will present two different outfits for each pair of shoes, comprising one day outfit and one evening outfit.

“The Louis Vuitton fashion show is one of the major events of the week, demonstrating the loyalty and high interest of the leading fashion houses to Aurora Fashion Week,” said the event’s organizers.

The show-stopper of the fashion week looks set to be “Inspiration,” which represents a series of fashion shows based on research into the phenomenon of fashion. The Manezh exhibition hall — the main location of the fashion week — will host a fashion show of vintage dresses belonging to fashion historian Mara Parmegiani. The “Inspiration” program will also include the final round of a competition for young designers organized by Grazia magazine.

The fashion week is expected to attract more than 80 professionals from the fashion world such as buyers, journalists, designers, stylists and celebrity bloggers to St. Petersburg.

Aurora Fashion Week, which runs through Oct. 16, is mostly directed toward industry professionals. This time around, it has been timed to coincide with the international fashion calendar.

“Aurora Fashion Week opens at the same time as International Fashion Week and is one of the key events in the regional as well as federal policy of Russia in the culture and fashion industry,” said the event’s organizers.

“The high regional importance of Aurora Fashion Week and its position in the context of contemporary fashion industry defines its unique status, which has been founded as a dialogue between culture, art and fashion.”

The spring-summer 2012 fashions showcased at Aurora Fashion Week will be presented at the “Catwalk,” “Ambient” and “Inspiration” programs. Exclusive premieres of all the new collections will be shown from Oct. 13 through Oct. 15, with most of them being presented as part of the “Showroom” program.

During the “Catwalk” program, the new collections of Alexandre Arngoldt, Kute, Sandra Straukaite, Bessarion, Jana Sagetti, Kamenskaya and Kononova (Kiev) and Petar Petrov will be shown, as well as fashion shows by the internationally acclaimed brands Custo Barcelona and Tosha.

Despite being primarily oriented toward fashion professionals, the fashion week will offer a series of innovative programs for less well known designers. One of the programs, “Ambient,” which runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 16, will showcase clothing by young Petersburg designers at various locations around the city. Among the participants are Osome2some, Cat’s Production and Homoconsommutos.

The fashion week is not just about daring designs and controversial clothing. This season’s event will have an educational component in the form of the “Fashionomica” conference, a platform for discussion and brainstorming on the effective synthesis of fashion and economy as the basis of a successful fashion industry.

Another alternative aspect of the event is the Ready-to-Read festival, which is taking place with the support of the Russian National Library and the St. Petersburg Dom Knigi bookstore chain. The festival aims to promote art, fashion, design and contemporary photography.

Mersedes-Benz Fashion Week Moscow

Venue: Congress Centre of the World Trade Centre, Moscow

Dasha Gauser show

On 21-25 October, Moscow will play host to the MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA – SPRING-SUMMER 2012. The new season of the globally renowned Russian Fashion Week promises to be at least as rich in celebrities as the previous one last April.  At the Congress Centre of the World Trade Centre in Moscow, visitors will be able to see catwalk collections by top Russian designers and noteworthy debutants, as well as new lines from high-end international fashion houses.

Although the lineup and guest list for the MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA – SPRING-SUMMER 2012 are still to be confirmed, it is already known that the official Fashion Week opening ceremony scheduled for 20 October will be attended by one of the world’s top models.

The Fashion Week will see the return of its regular participants – Tatiana Parfenova, Yulia Nikolayeva, BESSARION, Yelena Makashova, Yegor Zaitsev, Dasha Gauser, Yelena Suprun, Yelena Tsokalenko, Borodulin’s, etc. – as well as some talented newcomers who will present their collections in the format of creative showrooms or shared demonstrations. Traditionally, the MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA will open with Slava Zaitsev’s new collection.

The MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA was held for the first time in Moscow in the spring of 2011, to carry on the professional traditions of the Russian Fashion Week. The most significant fashion week in Eastern Europe, it has taken the place it rightly deserves on the global fashion calendar, as is proven by the fact that, among other things, the upmarket car brand supports only the most important international fashion events.

The lineup for the MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK RUSSIA – FALL-WINTER 2011-2012 included top designers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan, as well as such international brands as ICEBERG, Laurel and Marios Schwab, while top model Karolina Kurkova headed the Fashion Week’s guest list.

Blend fantasy and fashion

“Through my collection, I wanted to prove that you can blend fantasy and fashion. My clients are local women and they will appreciate it,” Mohsin said. Though you are inclined to question the practicality of her garments, she’s happy to have exercised her imagination. Next in line was Pakistani label Memseen who unrolled their collection of transparent capes with velvet detailing. Underneath the stone-encrusted flowing robes were leggings and vests. Abayas with brocade detailing and floral corsages also made their entry. Full-sleeved orange gowns with intricate embroidery and velvet borders were also a part of his stock. Also on the runway for the first time in Dubai was Romanian designer Mirela Stelea with her jump-suit collection. Perfect for a nightclub, models sashayed down in glittering jumpsuits in metallic tones including dull gold, blacks and bright oranges. The plunging V-necklines that held the silk tops precariously together were a common thread running through her collection.

All body shapes

“I have always received compliments whenever I wear jumpsuits. It goes with women of all body shapes,” said Stelea after she took her bow.

Bahrain-based Saudi designer chose to use the evil talisman in all his creations. Anklets that were studded with the blue-white circular medallions, dresses in white and blue chiffons transported you to Mediterranean holiday spots like Greece.

Meanwhile, designer Elena Cartas introduced a romantic, royal collection with her jacquard silks, chiffon column gowns and brocaded jackets. Our favourite was full-sleeved tops, with cigarette pants that had exaggerated hips.

Dubai Fashion Week changes from loose to glittering

The opening of Dubai Fashion Week was marked with dollops of drama and the collections ranged from loose, flowing fabrics to glittering jumpsuits

The first leg of the opening day of Dubai Fashion Week was marked by on-stage theatrics as designers and technical directors utilised the expansive ramp to pull off presentations with dollops of drama. While designer Mirela Stelea chose glittering crystal balls as her prop, Russian designer Cartas chose a castle as her backdrop to complement her column gowns. Unfortunately, there were not many fashionistas in the afternoon shows to enjoy their efforts. Barring the front two rows, the rest of the gallery was depressingly empty.

To set the ball rolling, Sharjah-based designer Sakina Mohsin unveiled her collection of harem pants. Entitled Arabian Nights – An Ode To Dubai, the DFW regular began her show with loose flowing silk pants and sheer vests with smattering of sequins and crystal embellishments placed at strategic places. Models who bore a strong resemblance to genies with half their faces covered and billowing pants, went about creating a fantastical land with their sunny outfits in shades of yellow and green.

Headbands emblazoned with Russian symbols, cheap accessories and military-style clothes sashayed through the Russian Silhouette fashion designer contest in Moscow this week.

The contest, first launched in 1997 by the Russian Silhouette charity fund, is aimed at supporting young Russian designers and took in 67 collections at the Gostinyi dvor exhibition center, where Moscow Fashion Week will kick off next week.

“We went through more regions this time, about 60, nine time zones of Russia and neighboring countries, held 32 semi-finals, viewed 4,000 designers, twice as many as last year,” Tatiana Mikhalkova, the president of the fund, told Reuters.

The collections represented nearly a dozen countries in their diversity, which usually sets the contest apart from similar foreign competitions, she said.

Some judges said that a slower economy this year had prevented students from displaying the kind of experimentation and whimsical flair seen in past shows.

“Unable to spend a lot, this year designers played safe and acquired similar style, that’s why the show was a bit weak, I wanted to see more individuality and more guts,” Gevorg Rene, an Armenian fashion designer, told Reuters during an intermission.

A representative of Denmark’s Saga Furs auction house, Natalia Turovnikova, said she was disappointed with the drab uniformity of the collections.

“They are too modest, too tidy, not bold. You are young, you need to show sass, to surprise us,” she said addressing the participants from the runway.

Russian women are well-known for their exuberant interest in high-end fashion and unconventional outfits are a current fad.

Saga Furs was among other fashion labels such as Germany’s Laurel, Italy’s Moschino, France’s Claude Bonucci boutique and several Russian houses to offer 30 finalists internships and education programs.

The grand-prix — a 22,000 euro ($30,365) year-long masters program at the Italian design and fashion school Domus Academy — went to Muscovite Alexandra Ulyanova for her collection “From darkness to light.”

Ulyanova’s five outfits ranged from a long dark brown dress and heavy makeup to an angelic white transparent gown with an ivory belt accentuating the pale-skinned feminine figure floating on the runway.

“I had a philosophical concept in mind, I wanted to show the transition from dark to light,” Ulyanova told Reuters backstage. “I wanted to find this purity in today’s darkness and pull it out.”

Winners of the previous Russian Silhouette contest will show at Russian Fashion week starting on Friday at the World Trade center.

Valentin Yudashkin Shows at Paris Fashion Week

Yesterday, as part of Paris Fashion Week, Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin showed his SS12 collection, a tribute to Russia’s short but jubilant summers. “Of course the polar capital is more closely associated with winter,” says the diminutive designer. “I wanted to show summer in its soft, pastel colors.”

Reminiscent of the Russian Empire’s treasure trove of jewels, Yudashkin showed off designs featuring cascades of tourmaline in glacial blue, rock crystal, and green mountain emeralds and rubies. His prints of moonstone on organza and silk muslin seemed to float down the runway. The collection’s leather jackets added a sportiness to the looks, and the shorts, skirts, and pantsuits were designed with a hectic urban lifestyle in mind. As for footwear, models for the most part wore pastel-colored leather high heels.

October 20, 2011, saw the start of the fourth instalment of the Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) Sunsilk Fashion Week in Pakistan. Indeed this time, the PFDC and Sunsilk took their week of fashion further to a bigger business platform teaming up with Expo Pakistan, in collaboration with the TDAP whereby PFDC Sunsilk Fashion week is being held in parallel to the trade event.

Day 1 of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week was structured into 2 acts, which featured 3 ramp shows each with 5 distinct designers and a show by the students of the PIFD.

Act 1

It was attended by leading media and fashion personalities, journalists and buyers who had flown in to attend Expo Pakistan.

Act 1 of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2010 was opened by Maria B and her womenswear prêt-à-porter collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled “Neo Natives”. The designer drew her inspiration from ancient world cultures from Aztec to Persia to fuse a global identity for the women of today. Through this collection the designer looked to project a world that is full of love, acceptance and respect for each other’s cultures and identities. Indeed “Neo Natives” speak for the urban women of today, world travellers confident in their identities and capabilities. Talking about her brand and collection, the designer said, “It is Internationally relevant and affordable fashion for the modern Pakistani woman”. Renowned television host Shaista Wahidi and designers Yousaf Bashir Qureshi and Rizwanullah walked the ramp for the designer.

Act 1’s second show belonged to the debut collection of young designer Zonia. Her menswear and womenswear collection was titled “Aurora Luminescence – The Glowing Murk” which was inspired by an amalgamation of two tremendous natural wonders to achieve a manmade termination in the form of experimental garments, which are a concoction of colour inspiration from Aurora waves and the silhouettes are attained by focusing on bioluminescent mushrooms which are ruffled, frill yet composed. The attributes of all garments differ in light and dark.

The collection utilised unique and unusual fabrics combined with a white luminous fabric which glowed in blue or green focusing mainly on the lustre and drape of the fabric. Garments were without any embroidery but includes soft ruffles, J shaped cut lines, layering and white piping while white trims and white glow in the dark thread. On her debut and design aesthetic the designer said ““I believe in following my own pace, my own instincts and trust that no matter what I will get it right!…my designs are for people who love details, are confident, smart and desirable”

Next on the runway was Karachi-based designer Zaheer Abbas with his womenswear collection for the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled “Myth”. For this collection Abbas had drawn inspiration from elements of art and architecture along with Roman sculptures influenced by ‘wet drapery’, a term used by art historians to describe cloth that appears to cling to the body in animated folds while it reveals the contours of the form beneath. Based in pure chiffon, the collection carried motifs such as pillars, vases and acanthus leaf embroidered in antique gold and copper, creating a true synthesis of inventiveness and practicality.

Zaheer Abbas’ inspirations were driven from East to West and from history to the future. For his second showing at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, Abbas went back in time; from classical statuary to modern dresses for his Spring/Summer collection. About his collection the designer said “Through the centuries, art and fashion have achieved their own transformations, Roman sculptures and their drapery is one example that creates a spectacular synthesis for which not many words are needed, the beauty speaks for itself”

PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week kicks off in Karachi

Act 2

Opening for Day 1’s Act 2 was the Karachi based designer Nida Azwer with her womenswear collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled “Foliaceous” which drew inspiration from the textures and hues that surround her. Based in a flowy silhouette using fabrics such as cottons, linens, silks and organza, the collection marked the designers’ foray into textures where she explored the textures of fresh leaves using traditional techniques such as cutwork accentuated with lace in the earthy tones of green and blue. Speaking about her participation at the week the designer said “Fashion weeks in Pakistan gives everyone the opportunity to collectively showcase their work on a national level. I’m very happy to support it and be a part of it.”

Next on the Karachi runway was the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design [PIFD] where six students, Farwa Zaheer, Ridah Syed, Rubab Haider, Maryam Jaleel, Asma Iqbal, Komal Afridi, Safa Tariq and Saba Ijaz showcased their indiviual pieces and capsule collections.

The first day’s finale was by designer Akif showcasing his womenswear prêt-à-porter collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, “Mast Patang”, inspired by the Pakistani kite flying festival of Basant. His collection looked to capture the joyous nature and festivity of the occasion. In this collection he harked back to his childhood memory of congested old Lahore buildings where thousands of colourful kites were being flown from every rooftop.

“Mast Patang” was worked in a variety of fabrics such as velvet, linen, chiffon, viscose and cotton and engaged a vibrant colour palette including yellows, reds and oranges symbolising the rich colours of the kites themselves, along with the colour deep blue, indeed symbolic of the colour of the night in which these kites are flown. The designer presented French styled velvet jackets, jumpsuits inspired from the Far East and striking waistcoats all fused together with traditional Pakistani embroidery to create a collection representing Pakistan and its beautiful culture as manifest within the festival of Basant, to the rest of the world. pr

New fashion designers on the Birmingham catwalk

Future Vivienne Westwoods and Paul Smiths will see their creations on the catwalk in an annual fashion contest tonight. Nearly 30 new talents from across the region have reached the finals of the Midlands Fashion Designer Awards, which are being staged at Birmingham’s Fazeley Studios. Women’s Editor DIANE PARKES chats to some of the young designers.

BIRMINGHAM designer Paulinah Eboh-Sampson is looking forward to seeing her creations back on the catwalk at MFDA – because last year’s runway was her ticket to Clothes Show Live.

Paulinah, who launched her label Dancing Dolls last year, was talent-spotted at the 2010 awards.

“I was really pleased last year as the awards were also including emerging designers where they used to just be open to students,” she says.

“I took part and the stylist from the Clothes Show was there and asked if she could use some of my designs for the catwalk show. She used four of my designs at the Clothes Show. I went to see it – I was the one screaming in the audience!”

And Clothes Show Live helped ensure 30-year-old Paulinah, who is based in Winson Green, gained national coverage.

“People know me as the ‘one who designed the swimsuit with the hoodie!’” she laughs.

Paulinah’s love of fashion began on the stage.

“I originally studied art but I had always been interested in fashion and making my own clothes,” she says. “I was always coming up with designs and meeting a lot of dressmakers and seamstresses so I thought I would do it myself.

“So I studied dressmaking and then did an HND in Fashion Design and Textiles at Birmingham City University. I then did an internship with a company in London. She was a sole trader and it was in the run-up to London Fashion Week so I learnt a lot from her.”

Paulinah, who makes all the Dancing Dolls clothes herself, is hoping to open a studio in the Jewellery Quarter in the future.

See Paulinah’s work at www.dancingdollsuk.com

Deleisha Swaby is only in her first year of a Fashion Design course but she has already been picked as a finalist in the Haute Couture category of the awards.

The 19-year-old, from Lozells, has entered three dresses into the competition.

Deleisha, who took a fashion foundation course at Sutton Coldfield College before beginning her degree at De Montfort University in Leicester, is hoping the awards will help to raise her profile in the competitive world of fashion design.

“I want to spend the rest of my course getting as much exposure as possible and getting advice on the business and I think this will help with that,” she says.

“I know I still have a lot to learn and there is a lot of room still to develop my ideas. After I finish university I would love to work with a designer and get some experience but ultimately I would like to get my own designs out there.”

Deleisha loves statement fashion.

“The people who have inspired my collections are Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Gareth Pugh and Jean Paul Gaultier. Their designs are loud and speak for them. They don’t have to say anything, it is all there in the design. I love fashion which is loud and which makes its own statement.”

When Rebecca Giddings finished her Fashion and Textiles degree she made the brave decision to strike out on her own.

The 22-year-old, from Willenhall, has been selling her designs via her website and this year decided to enter the Midlands Fashion Designer Awards.

“I really wanted to stay in the Midlands and work here as I love this area,” she says. “So when I found out about the awards I really wanted to take part as they are local and are promoting fashion design in the Midlands.”

Rebecca has two main collections, aiming to cater to different markets.

“The main collection is ready-to-wear, casual style and I also do more alternative designs which tap into different subcultures,” she says.

“For these awards I entered a jumpsuit, a maxi dress and a two piece with skirt and jumper as well as lots of accessories.” Rebecca is keen to follow in the footsteps of British designer Paul Smith.

See www.rebeccagiddings.moonfruit.com for more of Rebecca’s designs.

Taking place at Birmingham’s Fazeley Studios tonight categories include evening wear, haute couture and ready to wear.

Show director Jenny Eason said the event aims to offer young fashion hopefuls a chance to showcase their work.

“The Midlands Fashion Design Awards was created from a desire to improve opportunities for newly emerging fashion designers,” she said.

“The annual event aims to offer opportunities to fashion designers who are just starting out and who do not have the means by which to put on their own show.”

Now in its fourth year, MFDA is supported by Claire’s, Toni and Guy and the Alan Sharman model agency.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to Breast Cancer Care.