The Armenia-Italy Textile Alliance Forum was held for the very first time, with the support of the Armenian Ministry of Economy. The event was held from September 22 to 24, during Milan Fashion Week, which saw several Armenian designers unveiling their new collections.
The new Fall/Winter collections of eight Armenian designers were displayed at the Visconti Palace on September 23 within the framework of the Armenia-Italy Textile Alliance Forum and Milan Fashion Week. The designers included: Sončess, Faina, RUZANĒ, Ariga Torosian, Nelly Serobyan, LOOM Weaving, Vahan Khachatryan, and Kivera Naynomis.
Before the show opened, the designers presented a video message to the audience. The message focused on the recent attacks and aggression by Azerbaijan on Armenia’s borders, including the torture and murder of female Armenian soldiers.
After showing the video, the designers made their way down the catwalk wearing t-shirts that read: “Stand with Armenia.” The thematic paintings on the t-shirts were painted by artist, Liana, who is from Artsakh.
The fashion show received wide acclaim by both local and international media, including Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, Fashion Week Online, The Spinoff, as well as other magazines.
“2022 marks an important date in the history of the Republic of Armenia as exactly 30 years ago diplomatic relations with many countries, among them Italy were established,” noted Fashion Week Online. “During the last thirty years, Armenian-Italian relations evolved not only in diplomatic and social platforms, but also in the realms of culture, fashion and entrepreneurship. In particular, success stories have been registered in the eld of textile and clothing production. This is evidenced by a number of successful and stable collaborations.”
A representative of Armenia offering remarks at the event
According to the Ministry of Economy, business visits to Italian textile factories were organized on the same day.
Armenia’s Ambassador to Italy, Tsovinar Hambardzumyan, and the Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia, Rafayel Gevorgyan, delivered remarks at the opening of the forum.
Honorary Chairman of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion Mario Boselli also delivered remarks.