BRICS+ Fashion Summit Jumps the New Heart of Global Fashion

Sep 08, 2025

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

※This article is a contribution from Heo So-dol Digital Magazine 'High Cut' Global Director.

On the evening when the Jaradiye Concert Hall in Moscow was colored with bright light, designers, creators, scholars, and editors from all over the world gathered to talk. It was a moment that was a little different from the glamour of the runway, but never less captivating. The BRICS+ Fashion Summit took place from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30 to reinterpret fashion as a culture, economy, and language of the future, not just consumer goods.

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

▶The stage where tradition and modernity meet

Designers from Africa talked about the rhythm of weaving and the sophistication of their fingertips, and Brazil imbued the runway with diversity, color, and the intangible value of 'happiness'. Aristide Rua of Côte d'Ivoire "We have original textiles and jewellery techniques as cultural assets," he wrote in his work. His collection was not just clothes, but fabrics that woven together the memory and future of a society.

Paulo Borges of Brazil said "Brazilian fashion is not just clothes, but the attitude of life" There was a free and lively atmosphere on the runway, hidden in it a message of cooperation and reconciliation.

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

▶ Elegance in the Middle East

Delegates from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Iraq and Lebanon gave the summit a distinct color. "It's time to turn inspiration into action," said Shireen Lippai of Jordan Fashion Week. Her remarks struck a chord with the young designers in the field. Baghdad Fashion Week's Senan Carmel emphasized that "for emerging markets like Iraq, fashion is the key to the creative economy," reminding them that fashion is not just a decoration but a force that changes the economy and society.

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

▶ Fashion in the Language of Business

Another pillar of the summit was investor sessions. Unlike the spectacular runway, realistic concerns were exchanged in the panel discussion. Alexei Kostrov of the Moscow Venture Fund shared a specific example of growth, saying "The output and sales of creative industrial companies have doubled." At that moment, it became clear that fashion was not just clothes, but a platform of innovation where startups and new technologies met.

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

▶ Academia and the Next Generation

Speakers from Tsinghua University and the Hague University of Applied Sciences talked about the future of fashion education. Brazilian researcher Luciana Duarte instilled new inspiration in students, saying, `My role is to connect South American and European perspectives.' The lecture hall was like another small workshop.

Moscow Fashion Week. BRICS PLUS scene.

Photo courtesy=Russian Fashion Council

▶The world gathers

The summit has become a true global stage with delegations from 65 countries participating. Designers from South Africa, Brazil, and China, as well as Russia, presented their works on the runway. Each step of the models on stage proved the diversity of world fashion.

The BRICS+ Fashion Summit is not just a summit. Tradition and modernity, economy and culture, creativity and investment, and voices from the Southern and Northern Hemispheres gathered together to create a huge dialogue. The future of fashion is not just in Paris and Milan. These voices, which resonated at the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow, showed just how colorful and collaborative global fashion can be expanded into the future. Fashion is now a true global language.