Independent labels are the most dynamic segment of British fashion. Together with the textile industry, they contribute £62 billion a year to the UK economy and employ 1.3 million people, according to estimates by Oxford Economics for UKFT. For emerging labels, London Fashion Week, held in mid-September, is one of the main ways to make a name for themselves. Brands participating in NEWGEN, the support programme run by the British Fashion Council, generate an average annual turnover of around £380,000 and operate with small teams. They cannot afford to maintain their own press offices and sales departments, so London Fashion Week takes on much of this work, organising promotion and facilitating buyer engagement. An independent evaluation conducted by Alma Economics for the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport found that every pound invested in NEWGEN generates around three pounds in economic returns, while a significant share of wholesale sales by supported labels comes from overseas retailers.
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In recent years, Moscow Fashion Week, which concluded in the Russian capital in early October, has also become one of the key hubs for independent fashion worldwide, providing access to an international professional audience. This season, the event brought together more than 350 designers from around the world, connecting brands with the press, stylists and buyers. The Pop-up Shop, operating alongside the fashion shows, allows designers to gauge demand immediately and sell their collections directly to customers. Russian designer Anna Kropotova, who presented layered dresses and outerwear made from crinkled fabrics on the Moscow runway, said that the combination of a fashion show and the Pop-up Shop had enabled her to recoup her participation costs and significantly raise her profile.
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For most Russian participants, Fashion Week serves both as a showcase for private customers and as a gateway to wholesale trade, with each label striking its own balance between the two channels. Moscow-based Kuchugova, whose spring/summer collection explored the backstage world of cabaret and theatre, attracted a stream of new private clients following the pop-up shop and fashion shows. Cardinal&Margo, by contrast, focused on retail partnerships. According to the brand’s team, talks were held with ten major buyers, while chain stores showed particular interest in the service of creating collections under their own private labels.
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Edder, which introduced a cruise line to its summer collection for the first time, uses the runway to test new ideas with a professional audience and cites new business contacts among the outcomes of its participation. Kisselenko and Novikova Dsgn, meanwhile, report an expanded client base and increased sales.
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For labels that have participated in Fashion Week for several seasons in a row, the impact is already reflected in revenue and production capacity. “Over a year of working with Moscow Fashion Week, we have multiplied all our key performance indicators: sales have doubled,” said the founders of Unke. Inniki has increased its turnover by 50% during its participation, while tripling its production capacity and becoming able to fulfil large wholesale orders. In response to growing demand, Lesia Lisun has launched its own garment manufacturing facility. For Sol Selivanova Olga, meeting buyers at Fashion Week eventually led to regular orders and the opening of its own Sol Fashion House in Moscow. For a number of Russian brands, the Moscow runway has also served as a launchpad for entering foreign markets. Li Lab, for example, describes Fashion Week as a driver of its international expansion, selling abroad through the online platform Wosk 1147.
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International designers come to Moscow in search of new customers, contacts and media attention. Spanish designer Miguel Llopis said that fashion shows in Moscow introduce his label to new parts of the world and bring him dress orders. Kenyan label KikoRomeo received interview requests from numerous publications in Moscow. American brand Amirah Creations chose Moscow to introduce itself to a new international audience and connect with designers, industry professionals and media beyond the United States. According to its founder, Nailah Lymus, audiences particularly appreciated the collection’s prints and accessories.
For British brand Black Crown Label, founded by Nohad Al Samarrie in 2020, the Moscow presentation of its art-inspired collection brought the very response independent designers seek when showing abroad: genuine engagement from both industry professionals and audiences. “The response was enthusiastic and deeply moving. I felt that our presentation offered a distinctive artistic experience, bringing visual art, fashion and music together,” she said.
“Moscow Fashion Week gives brands stability, the opportunity to plan their development and build business processes systematically. Today, a platform of this kind is extremely important to the industry and unique in its role in supporting and developing Russian designers,” said Moscow-based label Shin.
At the BRICS+ Fashion Summit, a business forum held in Moscow alongside the fashion shows, American industry expert Nichole M. Bess, Founder and CEO of Noir Fashion Week, described fashion weeks as accelerators for emerging labels: direct access to buyers, investors and industry experts enables them to achieve in a few months what previously took years. The figures reported by participants in Moscow Fashion Week show that, for many independent labels, this journey is already under way.
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