When one thinks of “Fashion Week”, the first things that come to mind are thoughts about the fashion weeks from the great style capitals of the world. Milan, Paris, New York and London are the centers of the fashion world. The events that take place in these cities are the most high-profile fashion events from the fashion calendar and grab the attention of the media and the public from throughout the whole world.

 

The Place and the Fashion

But, fashion does not happen only in Milan, Paris, New York and London. Other cities around the world have their own fashion weeks or fashion week-ends and they are very interesting to see and discover as well.

One such event is the Bucharest Fashion Week, which took place earlier this year in the spring in the Romanian capital. Back in the day, Bucharest was called “the small Paris”, as it really was a town that brought the so very specific French style to the East. But, because of the war and the social changes that followed (the communist era and the awakening period that is still not finished), Bucharest has come to be a very different city than Paris. These days, the Romanian capital is, from a cultural point of view, a meeting point between East and West. With a spirit that is hard to pin down (is it Slavic, is it Turkish – no one knows), the Romanian fashion week organized by Fashion TV definitely has a spirit of its own.

Presenting collections that were exclusively female (with the occasional male model here and there), given that Romania is still strong into believing that fashion is mostly for women, the organizers of the event offered a roundup of shows that gathered Romanian brands and designers as well as labels from other countries from the region (such as Ukraine) and from the Western world (France, Italy).

 

 

The All-Romanian model

The myth of the Balkan model is a very known and powerful one. And, for a right reason, as Romania and Eastern Europe have delivered a series of great models that have risen to International prominence, such as Cristina Sărăcuț.

Despite this, looking at the runway shows of BFW, one can notice that many of the models who walk down the runway during the Bucharest Fashion Week shows seem to have rather pumped up features and a strong presence. The Balkans are, in the end, all about more is more, if we may appeal to a cliche.

 

 

The collections

The collections presented during BFW were very interesting and featured an aesthetic that, even though sometimes was quite rough around the edges, gave the world a sense of where Balkan fashion is today. We could see many collections that had a very strong voice, such the one of Ukranian brand Godis, which featured stunning jewelry, the collections from the “Salomeia Truta” Fashion Institute  that delivered strong messages about women and their role in the world and the Bazhani collection that incorporated ethnic motifs in their creations.

One thing that was quite interesting about the shows was that there were a few shows that displayed the clothes one can already find in the stores – going in a way against the usual way in which the fashion world works.

 

Let’s take a look at some of the best looks from the shows presented during the event in three different galleries, grouped by day.

 

Day 1

 

 

Day 2

 

 

Day 3

 

 

 

 

As you can see, fashion does happen everywhere around the world and it is very interesting go beyond the beaten path and to discover what the style landscape of a certain part of the world has to offer. Seeing what such events offer is a great way to see where fashion really is at a global level and to have a better understanding of what style is to different cultures.

 

 

Fraquoh and Franchomme

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. What do you think about the BFW event? What do you make of local fashion weeks? Share your feedback, questions or thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, you can subscribe to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook or Twitter!