“Every year we receive more and more strong applications. This trend is very encouraging, although for our selection committee it also means more responsible work. We want to provide as many opportunities as possible for young creators, so this year the audience will see more collections than ever before – a particularly impressive spectacle full of unexpected sustainability interpretations,” says the festival director Indrė Jakaitytė-Gandžumian in a press release.
Read more Suddenly canceled Rod Stewart concerts: what happened revealed
Over seven years, the festival has established itself as an international launch platform for young designers. For many creators, performing in Vilnius is the first opportunity to present their collections to a wide audience and fashion professionals – it is a door opening the way to a further career.
“Although the authors of the collections are young designers, mostly recent graduates of art academies, the audience will see truly interesting works, creatively strong ideas, and original execution. Moreover, this year we will also have several returning designers – we will be able to see how they have improved over time. I have no doubt that we will hear about more than one of these authors again in the future,” says the festival’s creative director Serge Gandžumian.
The festival will take place from August 25 to 28. The festival program will open with creative workshops with VilniusTECH on August 25–26, and on August 27 there will be an international conference along with educational events, discussions for professionals, meetings with international partners, and a masterclass by makeup artist Sebastian Gradzik. The main highlight of the festival is the open and free presentation of young designers’ collections under the open sky on August 28 at 9 p.m. in Vilnius Town Hall Square, traditionally marking the start of the upcoming Vilnius Fashion Week.
This year’s young designers’ program will feature collections by Nataly Järvik, Razmus Linde (Estonia), Meideina Biliūtė, Mija Mečanecaitė (MIA MECANEC), Gretė Lábanauskaitė (lába studio), Jomilė Uksaitė, Almantas Kunskas (House of Kunskas), Živilė Skurvydaitė, Marija Bondarenko, Olivija Steinsvik, Domas Balaišis (Domas_Balandiz), Evaldas Kašiuba, Paulina Vitauskaitė (Paule), Marija Neimantaitė, Motiejus Lazauskas (Performansas) (Lithuania), Alise Sedliņa-Brūdere (Van Ted) (Latvia), Rashad Phos (Phos Incantation) (USA), as well as the joint RUFA – Rome University of Applied Arts (Italy) team: Ilaria Petrazzi, Antonio Tedeschi, Khloe Raiko Oreto, Anna Monta Zalmane, Ayda Orhan, Medina Sagayeva, Mattia Siciliano, and Jules Hoornaert.
The festival is partially funded by the Vilnius City Municipality and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
About the festival
The festival is an international educational sustainable fashion event based on sustainability values, held annually in the heart of Vilnius, Town Hall Square, outdoors. It is the only event of this format in the Baltic countries. The festival’s mission is to provide a launch platform for young talents creating responsibly, sustainably, and innovatively. It is a completely open and free event for the public, a permanent part of the main cultural events program of Vilnius city.
Read more Poles caught a Lithuanian: a stolen car is only part of his problems
