Moscow – International Fashion Hub

Moscow is in ninth place in the global rating of fashion cities, this confirming its status as the biggest fashion region in Eastern Europe and the CIS and offering good prospects for creating an image of the capital as a regional attraction centre. At least 13 thousand organizations are engaged in the fashion sphere and their revenues amount to 300 billion roubles a year, engendering city tax revenues of over 20 billion roubles every year. To achieve such impressive results, resources are important and Moscow willingly provides them, proposing that businesses create and manufacture in different clusters in the capital, which cover a total area of more than 600 thousand sq.m.

To develop and support Moscow’s creative sector, an Agency for Creative Industries was set up. Under Moscow Government auspices, the ACI brings together businesspeople and authorities of the capital in the city’s economy and its improvement by the efforts of creative sphere specialists. The organization gathers statistics, reacts promptly to changes in them, develops projects and helps business representatives to increase their profits, promote and sell their products. The ACI’s portfolio of the most significant projects includes creation of the country’s first Materials Centre, uniting designers and producers of materials from different countries: Russia, India, Turkey, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia and others. It is planned to post on the Centre’s online platform over three thousand samples of materials with an assortment matrix of ten thousand from more than 400 suppliers. In the near future, a physical infrastructure is to open in Moscow with a library of different material samples and a supplier information base, as well as a trend zone.

Over a period of three years, the Agency has held more than 40 major events and provided support to over four thousand entrepreneurs. So, the most significant of the events was Moscow Fashion Week, with more than 1.6 million visitors and allowing 450 Russian designers to present their ideas and collections. Moscow Fashion Week helped support the huge industry in which in the order of 40 thousand Muscovites are employed: designers, garment makers, shoemakers, marketing specialists, stylists and representatives of many other creative professions. On the capital’s podiums, national couturiers created over three thousand samples shown by 2.7 thousand models, involving 208 stylists and makeup artists. The Week’s main venue was Zaradye Park, where more than 70 shows were held. The showroom at Gostiny Dvor hosted 249 wholesale buyers from 40 cities in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. In the order of 230 transactions were concluded to a total of over 60 million roubles. Another 800 potential agreements are under discussion with manufacturers.

Also worth noting is the “Moscow Festival. Russian Creative Week” held in the capital from 3 through 9 July at the capital’s biggest venues: Gorky Park, Zaradye, Muzeon, the Vinzavod Modern Art Centre and other popular places, bring together 200 thousand people. One of the central locations was the Moda (Fashion) Pavilion in the very centre of the capital on Petrovka Street. This provided showrooms and lecture theatres, hosted fashion shows and organized a zone for Indonesian fashion brands.

One ACI development priority is its international direction. Thanks to its own brand, the Agency is the entry point to the main Russian and international markets for representatives of the creative industries, as well as a communications platform for gathering innovative ideas and receiving feedback. It is important to take into account representatives of Moscow’s creative industries have, over the last two years, arranged and consolidated co-operation with more than twenty countries. Major partnership projects are now being implemented in the light and fashion industries. One such is the International Forum BRICS+ Fashion Summit, which takes place in Moscow under the auspices of Moscow Fashion Week. The event brings together industry professionals, light industry specialists, bloggers, teachers and young designers from many parts of the world. Over 60 countries, including states of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the CIS participated in the event this year. BRICS+ Fashion Summit is a step closer to development of the fashion industry through the lens of international co-operation, which will lift fashion to a global level.