The II BRICS+ Fashion Summit took place in Moscow on October 3-5, 2024. Who attended, what are their expectations from BRICS and why is the summit such a huge cultural phenomenon?
BRICS plus the rest of the world
“O-o-o-o, Malaysia – truly Asia!” quoting a famous slogan, a tall, broad-shouldered Indian waves cheerfully at the Malaysian delegation. “Nice to meet you!”
At the other end of the hall, a crowd gathers to listen to a presentation by a designer from Myanmar. Afterwards, a woman in national dress and with a beehive hairstyle squeezes through to the speaker: “I am a designer from Botswana. Nice to meet you, and I would be glad to work with you!”
A participant from Mauritius arrives in the lobby of the Zaryadye complex with his luggage, after a many-hour transit flight. Despite his fatigue, he is in an excellent mood: “It is a great pleasure and honor for me to represent my country here. I hope to make new contacts and exchange ideas. My visit is being covered by Mauritius television.”
Inspired guests from Latin America discuss the Heritage exhibit and prepare for the presentations. Delegates from Oceania, whose journey here took even longer, are eager to take pictures with everyone and talk passionately about Fashion Weeks and the unique crafts of their islands.
In another session, speakers from India and Pakistan stand side by side, with an Indian suggesting that the next summit be held in Goa or Islamabad. No, that was not a mistake. Goa or Islamabad.
The spirit of cooperation and engagement that BRICS embodies is strikingly evident in this meeting. Here visitors are surrounded by a real whirlwind of excitement, fashion and beauty. Designers show off their creativity. There is a real polyphony of languages and cultures. Glamorous dresses, elegant costumes, national costumes of all styles rustle around the hall. It is as if the whole world had gathered for the summit, and this is not an exaggeration: the number of countries that sent representatives exceeded a hundred.
Beauty is a soft power (BRICS as an opportunity)
The issues of the Fashion Summit are far from political – the development of brands and national traditions in fashion, preservation of crafts, experience of Fashion Weeks of different countries, environmental impact of the fashion industry – but it is already having an impact in the world. While earlier, according to the participants, awareness of BRICS was low, now the situation is changing in front of our eyes: people are becoming curious about what BRICS is and how to establish cooperation with the group.
“BRICS is a big chance,” says Bench Bello, a Filipino designer and founder of Manila Fashion Week. “I would love for the Philippines to join BRICS, and I will be telling everyone about the opportunities it offers when I return home.”
Colombo Fashion Week director Ajay Vir Singh notes: “BRICS is a big block with a huge population, and its members are dynamic countries with rich history. For developing economies, it represents an alternative to the British Commonwealth.” Sri Lanka is interested in contacts with designers, including bilateral exchanges with Russia.
Su Yonggang (Sichuan Institute of Art) points out that his university has not had any fashion cooperation with BRICS countries. Now he is interested in developing relations in different directions with universities in Russia and other participants.
Raman Dutta, head of India’s Brands & Sourcing Leaders, has previously had the opportunity to work with a Brazilian designer. At the summit, he is keen on promoting Indian brands and making new contacts: “I want a lot of Indian brands to become global. Not only Indian, but also Russian and Brazilian brands, and others. Each brand speaks for a country’s culture.“
“BRICS-plus is the only platform that brings together so many countries on an equal footing.”
Iranian fashion designer Mansoureh Mirzael wants to begin the joint production of headwear and accessories with Russia, and thanks to BRICS he expects to make contacts in other countries as well.
For Turkmenistan-based designer Ayna Durdylyyewa, it is important to “develop national culture both within the country and by showing it to the world.” She hopes BRICS+ will provide her with the opportunity to participate in joint collections, workshops and meetings, and new partnerships. This summit, Ayna believes, “should be given more than five stars, as such a large-scale event gives everyone ideas, promotes growth and opens up many new directions.”
For Sayat Dosybayev, the founder of Kazakhstan Fashion Week, “The summit is an occasion to be surprised and amazed, it represents fashion without borders.” His country is attracted to fashion-related changes with BRICS+ members and with the rest of Asia.
Sun Guitan was sent by the Chinese Designers Association to present a collection. “BRICS and BRICS+,” he says, “are big growth points. For me, participating opens up new perspectives, and represents a good chance to move forwards.”
Navel Nedjari, founder and director of Algiers Fashion Week, is trying to take in both the summit and Moscow Fashion Week. But, as he rushes past, he manages to say that “Moscow is the best place to promote Algerian designers and tell the world about them.”
“Being part of BRICS is a great opportunity.”
Myanmar designer Maythu Lwin believes: “It’s a great opportunity to be part of BRICS. There are many cultures in BRICS, and I am happy to represent my country, to talk about it.”
Mohamad Saghir, director of Lebanese Fashion Week, has had time to meet many new designers. “We are all in the same business,” he concludes.
Kyrgyz designer Nurzat Jeenbek-kyzy emphasizes: “Russia is opening new doors for participants with this summit.”
Cavita Taragi (Chitkara University, India) believes that “the summit is a great idea, a wonderful platform for exchanging ideas and for collaboration between cultures.” She would like to develop fully-fledged inter-university ties with Russia.
It is a good initiative of BRICS to bring everyone together
Jay Ishak, president of the Malaysian Official Designers’ Association, compares the summit to last year’s: “There are many more countries, it is more exciting, more global, with more potential collaboration.” The last one was business-oriented, this one is focused on culture, heritage, and preservation of tradition in the fashion world. BRICS+ is the only platform that brings together so many countries, on an equal basis, no matter where you come from or how big your country is. Only Russia has been able to do that. Face-to-face communication is important for connections. You cannot Google it. I am very proud to be part of such an event.
Susan Sabet (Egyptian Fashion and Design Council) lamented that “we need more awareness of BRICS in Egypt. But, she continues, “when I go home, I will tell all the media outlets how beneficial it is for Egypt to be connected with so many countries now.” Susan calls the summit “an amazing event for networking.” In terms of areas for connections within BRICS, she highlights textiles, ready-to-wear, production, small brands, opening retail markets, and inviting designers to fashion weeks.
Kuwaiti designer Montaha Al Ajeel was struck by the occupancy of the halls: “These are not the half-empty halls of the Paris and New York Fashion Weeks.” Participation in BRICS+ would be very beneficial for Kuwait, she believes.
Cahn Nguyen (Cooper&Co., Vietnam) cites the length of the summit as an advantage. Next year, he plans to invite BRICS+ designers to Vietnam Fashion Week.
Malaysian designer Yani Bakhtiar recalls that, of the BRICS countries, she has already had contacts with India and China. Through BRICS+, she hopes to expand her range of partnerships.
Indonesian fashion designer Ali Charisma also praises the opportunities offered by BRICS+: “These are completely new markets.” He is interested in contacts with Russian companies and the opportunity to learn “how the market works, how designers work.” His compatriot Febby Mahendra Putra (Tribun News), after calculating the statistics, concludes that in Indonesia, thanks to the participation of just one designer and one journalist in the summit, interest in BRICS has increased manifold: “Everyone reads the news on it and shares it on social media.” What is more, some Indonesian students from MSU also came to Zaryadye: they just read the news and wanted to listen to the sessions and see the designers and their work.
Fashion designers from Uzbekistan Nilufar Abduvalieva and Barno Khalilova present traditional clothes made of natural silk with unique designs. They are looking forward to returning next year to show their whole collection.
Nyamtsetseg Nyamjav, designer and lecturer at the Urlakh Erdem Fashion Design Institute (Mongolia), is glad to have the opportunity to see designers from all over the world, discuss options for working together with representatives of different organizations, and invite new brands to Ulaanbaatar Fashion Week. The main idea that she is impressed with is that “life in the fashion world no longer revolves only around Europe and the United States.”
Bediz Yildirim (Istanbul Fashion Academy and Bediz Co.) highlighted the “continuous dialog, two-side exchanges and good chance to build relationships all over the world” and hopes for “larger joint projects with BRICS countries.” In Turkey, she said, everybody wonders what happens next with the issue of joining BRICS. The world is changing, people see the results, the statistics. BRICS is huge, and Turkey can be a part of it, too. I am excited about it, we can build forces together.
Mubashar Naseer Butt (Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association) is confident: “The future for BRICS is bright. I hope Pakistan will join this community, and we need a forum to discuss economic issues – BRICS, Russia, Pakistan. We should start meeting each other and make friends).”
Mehdi Ghalenovi, director of the Iran Public Diplomacy Foundation, agrees with him: “BRICS needs to create an economic platform for interaction solely within the group, and something in the way of a shared currency. Then we will be resilient to external shocks and sanctions and will be able to solve any problems among ourselves.”
Akashdeep Singh, President of the Indian Business Council – Russia, says: “It should be clear to anyone that BRICS and BRICS+ are economic powers, with huge territorial and human resources. That’s why there’s so much interest in us in the world. There is simply no better union, the question is how quickly we can achieve it. It should start with an exchange of knowledge, people, and with media support, and it should be worked on for several years. There is more that unites us than divides us. We need to understand that and meet each other.”
Multicultural stories
Those attending the summit were able to could meet representatives of a wide variety of cultures, including those who, thanks to twists of fate, have acquired several cultural identities but maintain them with equal respect.
Indian-born Manjulakshmi Gills is a Qatari fashion designer based in New York. She sews outfits for celebrities: “Qatar is not too exposed globally. I want to put it on the global map.” Out of the BRICS countries, I have worked with Brazil, South Africa and China, but there has never been such a wide opportunity to communicate as there is now. The designer would like to cooperate with Russia on the purchase of fabrics, production of hats, exchanges between models and photographers and on magazine publications.
Halima Hadir is an Italian designer from Tunisia. Her clothes represent “a mix of cultures from Tunisia, Italy and Morocco.” Halima is active in Tunisian Fashion Week and works with a company that collects plastic from the Tunisian coast for recycling. It is her first time in Russia, and she wants to discover our country and culture. She describes the summit as “like a dream – there is an opportunity to see designers from all over the world, and discover new techniques and models. I met a lot of cultures here, and it will push me to propose new designs.”
Reynier Abello is a Filipino who lives in Cambodia and Laos. In Zaryadye he is exhibiting his collection, which combines tradition and modernity. In BRICS, the designer dreams of establishing contacts with Russia in the field of clothing production. Following the summit, he also became interested in Africa: “It’s a very good initiative of BRICS to bring everyone together.”
Positively shocked
Most of the participants are in Russia for the first time. Everyone is experiencing a real culture shock, not only from the diversity of BRICS+, but also from the host country. The most frequent epithet used by participants when describing their impressions is “amazing”. Some people discovered Russian fashion, others visited Moscow for the first time, having only seen it “in the movies”, while others visited Red Square, “a dream come true – to feel its energy, and remember the iconic figures in Russia’s history. Everyone is delighted with the architecture, the sights and, in addition, they admit that they were struck by how open, friendly and interested in getting to know other cultures the Russians were.
Indian researcher Ṛta Kapur Chishti who has dedicated her talk to the importance of preserving handmade and natural materials in production, talks in an interview about her respect for Russian history and her love of Russian literature: Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ivan Turgenev, Maksim Gorky, Osip Mandelstam and Marina Tsvetaeva. She quotes some lines from The Captain’s Daughter from memory and asks which of Russia’s contemporary writers are worth reading. Your correspondent from NEO suggested that she read books by Dmitry Kulikov and Zakhar Prilepin.
Numerous journalists from India who have flown in to cover the summit were impressed by the way Russian culture combines a combination of innovation and respect for history. Reynier Abello felt “inspired by the atmosphere, the vibe of the people.” Mubashar Nasir Butt laments that “in Pakistan they know little about Russia. We need forums like this to let everyone know how wonderful everything is here, from the art to the food.” Canh Nguyen expressed similar sentiments. And Nurzat Jeenbek-kyzyzy summed up the feelings of many of those present: “Russia is a country to which the soul is drawn.”
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These emotions and smiles, these connections and networking opportunities are priceless. The main thing that unites all these people is their pride in their country, culture and respect for others. This expresses the true meaning of BRICS+: freedom, openness, cultural exchange and opportunities for all. BRICS+ fashion exchanges will continue to evolve. The summit adopted a declaration on the establishment of the BRICS International Fashion Federation to enhance cultural exchanges and cooperation between professional associations. The representativeness of this new area of BRICS+ ties may well turn out to be the envy of many UN events. While the 2023 summit brought representatives from 60 countries, this year the number of participants was over one and a half times greater. Everyone will also be able to join the new Federation. This means that the most important principles of BRICS, openness and equality, will be expressed in action for all to see.
Ksenia Muratshina, PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
