The 2019 edition of MQVFW, Museumsquartier Vienna Fashion Week, has recently ended in the Austrian capital. The opening show by Marcel Ostertag from Germany, which was attended by numerous celebs and statespeople, including Austria’s chancellor Brigitte Bierlein, was followed by a week packed with runway shows which were held in the tent build especially for the event outside of Vienna’s museums “neighborhood”.
Some brands and designers which were usually present at the event year after year did not come back this time around, but some newcomers brought fresh wind in the City of Dreams. Colombian brand Chirimoya presented its first show in Vienna and brought a premiere on the Austrian runway, as, during a part of the show, models literally ran up and down the runway. 2069 by Fred Kobayashi proposed a futuristic runway show that seemed really to be out of this world. His show really takes the cake for cohesiveness and originality. Another newcomer was Niko Niko Design who offered us much of what we wanted to see but didn’t until now at MQVFW: a superdynamic, entertaining and fun runway show, which came as a great balance to the overall serious tone most of the others Viennese runway shows have. We recently wrote that exciting runway shows will make a come-back and it’s great to see that Niko is ahead of the curve. Manuel Essl Design, another newcomer, also brought fun and upbeat fashions to the runway. El_In_Es also made a good impression with a fabulous collection made only from zippers.
While many household names did not make a come-back this year, we could definitely see a great interest in a refreshing of Vienna Fashion Week, as many of the newcomers do want to really push the event to be its very best and to reinvent it in a fresh and upbeat tone.
From the now-classic presences at MQVFW, we really loved the shows by Smaranda Almasan (who last year had a bit of a fashion scare as the power went out during her show), Richard Rozbora from Bratislava and Ana Maria Cornea. Speaking dresses, we also really loved Gina Drewes’ collection (especially the African safari part) and many of the Passion by D looks.
The Thai Fashion Night featured four shows, three of which were collaborations between Austrian and Thai brands. Firstly, there was a show created by Thai label Munzaa and Austrian label Shakkei. Secondly, we could see a collaboration between Ek Thongprasert from Thailand and Kayiko from Austria. The third show featured clothes by Wisharawish from Thailand the Vienna-based Sabine Karner, which was one of our favorites from the entire week. The nigh ended with a special presentation by Wonder Anatomie from Thailand. And, speaking of Kayiko, Karin Oèbster also had a solo show, which was once again very creative and captivating. We really appreciate her ability to communicate a message through individual clothes and their relation to one another in a collection and still leave room for personal interpretation and thought.
Overall, while there was a decrease in attendance and a shift in participants, we can see that there is a lot of interest for the event and that a new generation of designers and brands is emerging. It is, of course, up to the organizers to decide the direction in which the event will go, but we think there is a lot of potential to make Vienna Fashion Week an event that will be of great interest not only to some circles in the Viennese and Austrian landscape, but also a calendar highlight for businesses and audiences from the surrounding countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia). There are many talented people (designers, bloggers, photographers, models, etc.) who participate in the event and they deserve to be highlighted more and to be promoted heavily. This can be a win-win situation in the long run. Also, we would love to see more menswear, which was almost completely lacking (there was not even one single show dedicated only to men’s fashion).
All in all, the last MQVFW of the decade was one of change. The direction in which the change will go as of 2020 remains to be seen, but we do encourage everyone to really focus on collaborations, on promoting value and of leaning an ear towards the new emerging voices in Central European and global fashion.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
Photo: Iosif Trif – Attire Club
MQVFW19 will also be featured in the October 2019 edition of InCompany by Attire Club. Make sure to follow us for more photos and impressions!
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