Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Kyiv intentionally have moved their shows for the beginning of the international fashion season in order to have the majority of international press, so they will have possibility to find out new stars from Eastern Europe. In 2017 MBKFD gathered together over 60 international guests - well known fashion experts, professionals and influencers as well as 70 fashion designers from 15 countries.
The major opening ceremony of the fashion week took place at the Central Department Store of Kyiv, better known as TSUM, and most of the shows took place at the KVC Parkovyi Exhibition Center.
Read: Young Ukrainian Designers to Watch
Photo: Anna K Runway at MBKFD
Since its foundation in 2010, Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days has been striving to bring the Ukrainian fashion industry to the level of international standards, presenting collections of talented designers to the global audience twice a year. Fashion world is actively discussing Eastern fashion revolution. New talents from Eastern European countries have gained a world-wide popularity already.
Traditionally, within the framework of the MBKFD its program was presented by Innovation Business Forum by KFI. These are four days of lectures and meetings with the best representatives of the fashion, business, digital and marketing industries, during which time the audience learned all the key points of competent business conduct in the fashion world.
Taking advantage of growing recognition both in Ukraine and abroad, during the years of its existence, Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days has significantly expanded its program, which now includes Fashion Scout Kiev - a launching pad for beginning brands, Fashion Days Market - a platform for brands of clothes, shoes, accessories, design and decoration items, and the Kiev Fashion Industry Forum - a business conference dedicated to the Ukrainian fashion industry.
The 15th season of the Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days also marked the transition from printed invitations to electronic ones, influenced by global collaboration with Launchmetrics - the software feature which allows brands to accelerate the release of their products on the market and create a long-term exposure.
"Having worked in the global fashion industry and having visited fashion weeks, in such metropolises as New York, London, Paris, Milan and Dubai, I must say that Kyiv is an inspirational and energetic city for me. And being here in the fashion week is a great honor and especially pleasure to speak at the Innovation Business Forum by KFI ... All that we could do to support a week of fashion in Kiev was an absolute pleasure."- Eddie Mallon, the president of Launchmetrics, said.
As part of the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days and HDFASHION & LifeStyle TV channel on the jubilee fashion season, a full-featured film was filmed, the presentation of which was held at MBKFD official party.
ModnaKasta, one of the biggest on-line stores of Ukraine, introduced its unique project for the Ukrainian market called SEE NOW, BUY NOW. Fashion items of some brands could be purchased directly from the podium - this kind of practice makes online shopping more convenient, and also significantly reduces product waiting time from several weeks to several months.
Photo: CHAKSHYN Runway at MBKFD
"I think that the most memorable show is CHAKSHYN. This is my favorite brand, because from the standpoint of style it is very fashionable and very relevant. From the point of view of the collection, all this is similar to a story, the brand is the least repeating, it has a lot of variety, so it is a complete story. I also think that the GIBSH brand has a good level. I like the idea of locking the color. I think it's really interesting. I think that if you compare the brand Anna K with others, it's more like a mature collection. Again, we are talking about a story, the brand is less repetitive, it is closer to a high level of designer skills."- Adrian Yu, Bayer Lane Crawford, says.
Runway shows of the pioneers of the MBKFD were united under Fashion Scout Kiev section. This is a unique opportunity to announce itself in the fashion week and present a new collection. \ The best brands and designers were awarded with the Design IT award. This year, the special award from Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days went to NASTASIA KLIMT brand, while Vogue Ukraine and Vogue Italy have favored the CHATTY brand.
In addition, at the opening ceremony the names of the winners in other nominations were announced. The following ones are among them:
The best fashion journalist of the season is Ilya Kabachinsky;
The model of the season is Eva Poduryan;
The best stylist of the season is Sonya Soltes;
Influencer of the year in the field of fashion is Lera Borodina;
Innovator of the season is Andrei Logvin for ModnaKasta SEENOW / BUYNOW project, which for the first time took place on Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days;
The best male designer is Jiri Kalfar;
The best photographer is Vitali Melnikov.
The Flow the Label brand was awarded with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Prize of USD 100,000.
The new season show will take place on February 1-4, 2018.
Read: NASTASIA KLIMT x THE OTHERS Collaboration Collection
Image source: MBKFD PR Department.
