Held in Baku on December 3-4, the 13th edition of Azerbaijan Fashion Week attracted local and foreign designers and fashionistas to the Mugham International Center in the capital to showcase the latest designer collections.
In an interview with Caspian News, Sayad Dossybayev, Art Director of Azerbaijan Fashion Week, highlighted the importance of hosting the event at the Mugham Center.
“I have always looked at this fascinating building and have always wondered what it is,” Dossybayev said. “And then when I visited the Mugham Center, I found out that mugham is a traditional Azerbaijani genre of vocal and instrumental arts that has its own army of fans and stars. Mugham is very similar to Kazakh Aitys [Aitysh], a traditional singing contest in which a story is told through singing to praise something or, on the contrary, criticize it. And therefore Mugham was of great interest to us and we wanted to hold our show within the walls of this temple of music,” he said.
The event was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. On the first day of the event, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Serzhan Abdykarimov addressed the audience in a video message, in which he praised the close ties between the two countries.
The two-day event featured fashion collections designed by domestic and foreign designers including Ny Gyul, Fakhriya Khalafova, La Shyla, Soul Desire, Mario Russo representing Azerbaijan, Kazakh brands such as Shogy, Nomade, Usaliev, A-Sain kids and Asheri, Uzbek fashion designer Irina Diosa, etc.
The opening day also included the debut collections of Menzer Zekizada fashion school graduates Roya Bashirova, Ramilya Mehdiyeva and Sultan Mammadova.
The Kekalove brand collection was displayed on the runway on the second day of AFW as a tribute to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is celebrated annually on December 3 worldwide.
“We could not ignore this day,” Dossybayev said. “We believe that there are no people with reduced mobility, there are people with a misunderstanding about people with disabilities. So, we decided to show that they are a full member of society. We need to learn to live with them, to be friends with them, to communicate with them and to see them everywhere, including restaurants, cafes, theatres, stadiums, concert halls and fashion shows”.
Kazakh fashion designer Azamat Sain, who presented children’s clothing at AFW, shared his thoughts on becoming a fashion designer.
“My advice to mothers who want to make their children into fashion designers would be to ‘start small’. Parents should worry about art education to develop their children’s taste for fashion. Also, children should go to museums and theaters and watch fashion shows to keep up with modern trends in the fashion industry,” Sain told Caspian News.
Sain launched his own children’s brand A-Sain in 2015, having owned a modeling agency since 2011.
Looking to the future of the fashion industry in Azerbaijan, the Kazakh designer said that fashion week events in the CIS countries continue to gain momentum.
“Great fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Jean Paul Gaultier and others have already created fashion, we just continue on their way. The same with the fashion week in Azerbaijan. Fashion as an important part of the country’s culture is slowly developing and growing here. I think every country should have its own Coco Channel,” Sain added when asked about the importance of Azerbaijan being on the global fashion map.
Azerbaijan Fashion Week has been held twice a year since 2012. The eye-catching fashion show aims to boost exposure of the country’s fashion industry and ensure a favorable environment for its designers. Dossybayev hopes that increased government support for the event will help boost the industry domestically and help designers establish a presence abroad.
Professionals from the fashion sector also realized the charm and hospitality of Azerbaijan through the project.
“This is my first time in Azerbaijan,” Uzbek fashion designer Irina Diosa told Caspian News. “I am spellbound by the beauty of this country. My phone storage is already full of photos of your beautiful capital. Baku is a very hospitable city. There are many people of Azerbaijani nationality living in Uzbekistan. Their particular hospitality makes them stand out from the crowd. And while I’m here, I felt that triple hospitality.”
The Uzbek designer went on to say that she had the opportunity to visit the Karabakh Shusha gem and pray for the souls of those who sacrificed their lives for the city’s freedom from Armenian occupation.
Shusha is a key city in the Karabakh region thanks to its geographical location and its historical importance as one of the main cultural, economic and administrative centers of Azerbaijan.
Shusha is well known as “the temple of culture and music of Azerbaijan” and the conservatory of the South Caucasus. It is home to one of the major schools of mugham that has influenced music in the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions.
Shusha was declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan in May 2021 when the government unveiled plans to restore the city’s historical appearance and return the city to its former glory after being under Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.
Source: news.google.com