Experts discussed support infrastructure for local brands and the role of fashion weeks as economic platforms, certification standards, fashion brands expanding into adjacent industries, the influence of algorithms on trendsetting, and the career pathways for emerging designers.

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From a Local Brand to the International Market
The second day’s plenary session focused on “Supporting Local Brands. Building Infrastructure for Growth.” It examined the tools Russian fashion brands need to continue growing, scale their businesses, and enter international markets.

The discussion covered government support measures, the development of production and educational infrastructure, the role of fashion weeks, marketplaces, and B2B platforms, as well as the shift from encouraging the emergence of new brands to creating conditions for their scaling and expansion into export markets.

The Industry Strategy for the Development of the Textile Industry projected that by 2035, domestic manufacturers would account for 50% of the Russian market. However, their share has already reached 45% and is expected to increase to 60% by the end of the year. “Government support measures have worked well — a unified leasing subsidy, preferential lending, and a 50% discount on equipment,” said Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

Alexei Fursin, Minister of the Moscow Government and Head of the Moscow Department of Culture, spoke about support for local brands, including through Moscow Fashion Week: “We should aim for international markets once we have reached a certain stage of development: first, establish ourselves in the Russian market, and only then enter foreign markets. It is challenging — no one is waiting for us there, but we give designers an opportunity to present themselves through partnership programs, for example, in China and even in the US.”

Market participants themselves agree that supporting growing brands is primarily about giving them the tools to succeed independently. “The period of rapid growth in the number of small brands is over, and it is time for the government to shift its focus from supporting the emergence of brands to providing tools for their scaling up. The Moscow Government has successfully built the infrastructure for getting started: the Made in Moscow programs and the Fashion Academy. Now, however, a new level is needed — a program along the lines of ‘100 Russian Growth Brands,’” said Alena Akhmadullina, owner of the Alena Akhmadullina brand.
Yuliya Poletaeva, Director of the Department for the Implementation of Entrepreneurship Support Projects at RWB, spoke about how the platform helps Russian brands make more effective use of digital infrastructure and how more than 80,000 entrepreneurs have used it. “We have advanced IT solutions: sales predictive analytics tools that can increase brands’ commercial conversion by 120%, as well as our own large language models that automate routine technical processes involved in working on the marketplace. Russian brands have already generated more than 1 billion rubles in additional revenue as a result of their implementation.”

Yeli Gu, founder of Ontimeshow, presented the Chinese experience of supporting brands, including the Ontimeshow B2B platform, which has been operating since 2014. “We help emerging designers bring their products to market. We already have 6,000 brands and 100 million products. The project is being developed with continuous and close government support. The platform has a multilevel system of subsidies and assistance, divided into clear areas depending on the brand’s specifics and stage of development.”
In Egypt, a unified ecosystem was created to support local manufacturers and designers, enabling them to collaborate and exchange experience. “Egypt’s fashion industry relies on several key organizations. There is close strategic cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, while some funding for development programs comes from abroad. All these efforts are aimed at the sustainable development of textile and garment manufacturing within the country,” explained Susan Sabet, Board Member and Secretary General of the Egyptian Fashion and Design Council.

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A separate discussion focused on the role of fashion weeks not only as venues for runway shows, but also as year-round business platforms that create opportunities for brands to grow and establish business connections. The session “Fashion Week as a Modern Economic Platform” explored how media visibility can translate into sales, investment, and contracts, as well as engagement with buyers and partners, support for emerging designers, and the role of infrastructure, digital tools, and cultural heritage. The discussion also covered year-round ecosystems built around fashion weeks, measuring their economic impact through orders, investment, jobs, and tourism, as well as infrastructure and trade barriers in emerging markets.

“A fashion week becomes a year-round platform once the show is over. At first, the show itself was the key moment, but that is not enough. We need to position brands before and after the event: help designers prepare not only their collections, but also create opportunities for collaborations, attract investors, and support their entry into new markets,” said Gabriela Tome, Strategic Director of Partnerships and Sponsorships at Asuncion Fashion Week (Paraguay).

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Participants in the “Certification and Standards in the Fashion Industry” session addressed practical issues of industry regulation. The discussion covered certification and labeling requirements for light-industry products, document processing, oversight of production facilities, working with contractors and marketplaces, as well as the legal scope of certificates. The prospects for introducing a unified BRICS standard, mutual recognition of certificates, and cross-border trade were also discussed, along with related considerations for both large and small brands.

“BRICS+ countries should focus on creating a transparent environment: work together to promote brands, actively share experience, control technologies, and expertise, while facilitating access for small creative businesses to international markets,” said Brian James Kihindas, Director of Nairobi Fashion Week and the Kenya Fashion Council.
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Business Expansion and New Prospects
The session “Brand Expansion into Adjacent Industries: Marketing Gimmick or Business Diversification?” addressed such issues as choosing new categories based on available resources and target audiences, maintaining the brand’s focus and DNA, developing omnichannel models, as well as the intersection of fashion with the beauty, gastronomy, retail, media, and other industries. Participants shared examples of brand expansion and collaborations and discussed the risks associated with limited resources, operational constraints, and excessive diversification into unrelated areas.
“A major mistake many brands make is blindly jumping into collaborations without understanding the operational and reputational consequences. Diversifying into random, unrelated categories leads to a loss of focus, causing the brand’s unique DNA and its value in the eyes of consumers to simply become diluted,” said Fernando Yax, Associate Director of Guatemala Fashion Week.
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Speakers at the “Crisis of Authority. Who Decides What’s In Trend?” session debated changes in the traditional fashion trend-setting system. Experts discussed the influence of social media, algorithms, user-generated content, and e-commerce on how fashion is perceived, the role of professional criticism, the relationship between global trends and local identity, as well as changing attitudes toward quality and craftsmanship. They also discussed the growing number of microtrends, information overload, users’ independence from algorithms, the importance of local brands and cultural context, and whether traditional fashion-industry institutions — fashion weeks, glossy magazines, and museums — still retain their former authority.

The discussion also addressed international cooperation as a way to foster interaction between different cultural spaces and overcome the crisis of authority. “Fashion is a great force that can bring us together. BRICS+ creates a unique global space where African countries, with their different histories, can interact with other rich cultures, such as Russia, on an equal footing and with mutual respect,” said Jenke Ahmed Tailly (France), a stylist who has worked with celebrities including Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell, Kim Kardashian, and Natalia Vodianova.
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Traditional Crafts as Part of the Fashion Industry
At the “Role of Traditional Crafts in Modern Fashion” session, experts discussed preserving and developing traditional craft practices, integrating them into contemporary design, and bringing craft products to international markets. The discussion also addressed the combination of traditional craftsmanship and technology, the role of education and international partnerships, the economic sustainability of traditional crafts, and the need to recognize craftspeople as full-fledged participants in creating contemporary products.
“Fashion is not just clothing. It is a combination of traditional crafts, history, antiques, and painting. Fashion is much broader than simply what we can wear,” said Rick Anderson, CEO of Mauritius Fashion Festival Week.
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Another focus of the Summit’s second-day program was building communities around fashion brands and using cultural and social projects to engage with audiences. This topic was discussed at the “'Soft Power' of a Fashion Brand. Investing in Community, Culture, and Entertainment” session. Examples included fashion weeks, concept stores, running communities, print media, and projects dedicated to preserving fashion heritage. Participants also discussed how brands can turn investments in culture and leisure from a one-off media opportunity into long-term engagement with the community.
“Fashion has the power to bring trends from the past back to life. It can make anything relevant again,” said Ajai Vir Singh, Founder and Managing Director of Colombo Fashion Week (Sri Lanka).
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Changes in the jewelry market and the balance between traditional techniques and modern technologies were discussed at the “Future of the Jewelry Industry. Market Trends and New Traditions” session. Participants explored how the value and price of jewelry are shaped, the importance of educating audiences to appreciate an artist’s work, a systematic approach to scaling workshops, and the use of new materials, particularly titanium.

“A piece of jewelry is evaluated primarily by collectors and museums. They are the ones who determine its status. If a piece is not handmade, interest immediately declines. And although software for automatically launching models is already being presented in Hong Kong, this approach turns jewelers into ordinary machinists. Artificial intelligence and technology should remain only auxiliary tools. The priority is to preserve old, traditional techniques — only handcrafting guarantees the absolute uniqueness of each piece,” said Ilgiz Fazulzyanov, founder of Ilgiz F.
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Self-Identification Through Fashion
Summit speakers discussed how children and teenagers develop their relationship with fashion at the “Fashion 0+. How to Preserve Space for Self-Expression” session. The discussion focused, in particular, on how the digital environment shapes children’s attitudes toward clothing and the role parents, brands, media, and social networks play in their choices.

“Today’s children often look to clothing not so much for the product itself as for an opportunity to express their identity. They follow what their peers and influencers wear, explore trends, and try to understand where they themselves fit within this visual culture. The industry’s task is to pay close attention to what they choose, which visual codes they recognize, and how they use clothing to communicate something about themselves,” said Antonio Alizzi, Professor of Rome Business School.
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The professional trajectories of emerging designers were the focus of the “Career Dilemma. Launch Your Own Brand or Join a Fashion House?” session. The discussion covered the importance of practical experience, specialized education, and internships, the competencies required to launch a brand, as well as opportunities for professional growth within large companies and fashion houses. Key topics included entrepreneurial, financial, and management skills, understanding consumers and the market, interdisciplinary training, teamwork, and gaining practical experience before launching an independent project.

“About ten years ago, all of our students wanted to create their own brands. They even came up with a phrase: ‘Today a student, tomorrow a brand.’ Creating your own brand combines the freedom of an artist with that of a technologist. But today, it requires an entire team and a whole range of competencies that students must acquire first. And they can acquire them by working together with companies and businesses. We have internship and mentoring programs, while companies formulate requests to which students propose their own solutions. This format makes it possible to combine education with real-world professional experience,” explained Valerii Belgorodskii, Rector of Kosygin State University of Russia.

“Today’s fashion is not only about creativity, but also about business, communications, technology, marketing, and, most importantly, adaptability. So simply having a good product is not enough. Service, the quality of customer care, and people’s feedback are all important. People’s experiences — both positive and negative — are what help us grow, find new solutions, and understand what can be done better,” said Stefanie de Roux, Associate of Communication and the person in charge of Panama Fashion Week Talks.
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The BRICS+ Fashion Summit takes place alongside Moscow Fashion Week (September 26 – October 1, Central Exhibition Hall ‘Manege’). Admission to all events is free with advance registration.

The strategic partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is Sber.

The general partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is Wildberries.

The technology partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is the GigaChat neural network.

More content from the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is available on the event’s official Wibes account and via the hashtag #BRICSFashionSummit.

The official photo service for the event is the A. Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia.