Yerevan Fashion Week: Showcasing Armenian design talent to the world

In 2025, the European Union imported 129 million euros worth of textiles from Armenia, almost entirely clothing. Behind this figure is an industry that has been working for high-end European firms, especially Italian ones, for years. Alongside it, generations of designers have emerged. Yerevan Fashion Week (YFW) aims to give them recognition in their own right, beyond their borders.

Its fourth edition, held from October 8 to 11, brought together more than 20 shows and presentations in Yerevan. It also featured a showroom with over 40 brands, more than ten talks, and several exhibitions.

“We are a small country with a very limited market. For our brands to grow, we need the international market,” explained Elen Manukyan. She is the co-founder and team leader of The Fashion and Design Chamber of Armenia. Manukyan launched it with designer Vahan Khachatryan, now its president, during one of the week's talks.

Armenia has about 3.1 million inhabitants, according to the official estimate from January 2026, and nearly 1.15 million live in the capital. Therefore, a significant portion of its textile production is sold abroad. In 2025, it was the second-largest category of European imports from the country, behind only mineral products, according to the European Commission. However, Russia remains the primary destination for its clothing and footwear, according to UN Comtrade data. Among the partners for this edition was the Russian marketplace Wildberries, which gave a talk on its platform as a sales channel for Armenian designers.

The chamber, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, works to train its designers and guide them towards foreign markets. The fashion week is one of its key projects. For this edition, it brought together about thirty guests from across the fashion supply chain. This included journalists from major international publications; influencers; buyers; and experts in sustainability and circular textiles. Italy, its top European client, had a significant presence in this group, with the trade fair White Milano, buyers from the Italian luxury boutique chain Tessabit, and the Florentine school Polimoda. The list was completed by the US trade fair Coterie NYC and the talent platform Fashion Scout.

Many of them participated in a programme of talks designed for both emerging designers and market-ready brands. Massimiliano Giornetti spoke about finding a unique creative voice. For established brands, there were sessions on international distribution and adapting to new European requirements, such as the digital product passport, with Dutch expert Chris Koeleman. Sophia Shin, international head of Coterie and one of the speakers, highlighted the potential of fashion weeks like this one. She noted that buyers are currently seeking fresh perspectives from emerging markets.

A bridge between the old and the new

The week coincided with the 2,808th anniversary of Yerevan, a city that claims to be older than Rome. It was founded in 782 BC as Erebuni, a fortress of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, and it was right there that everything began. At the Erebuni Museum-Reserve, overlooking the entire city, the exhibition “The Ancient Gods” brought together the work of thirty young designers. The exhibition traced a journey from that ancient fortress to contemporary Yerevan. It presented heritage not as something fixed in the past, but as a bridge between the old and the new that can, and should, be interpreted, questioned, and transformed through design.

The brand Sončess, by designer Sona Hakobyan, took this approach literally. It presented its collection on the Red Bridge, one of the city's oldest historical bridges and a symbol of the passage of time. The collection was inspired by the liberation of women.

Hakobyan is also one of the owners of Cone, the concept store she runs in central Yerevan with Ariga Torosian, designer of the brand Ariga-to. Named after the tree growing inside, the store has become a must-visit for followers of designer fashion in the city since 2022. It combines designer clothing and contemporary collections with traditional objects from around the world. Their selection is limited to “handmade works or pieces from small workshops that fit our concept and environment,” they explain.

On its rails, the day after its presentation, were garments from the Iranian brand Reza Nadimi, one of this edition's international participants. He was receiving his first orders for bespoke pieces when we visited the store. His collection, “Jardin de l’absence,” speaks of memory, resilience, and the fragile persistence of beauty through poppies. This idea takes shape in sculptural silhouettes, embroidery, hand-painted fabrics, transparent layers, traditional Iranian textiles, and architectural references.

Also from Iran is the creative behind Highbert Studio, one of the brands in the Yerevan Fashion Week showroom. Haibert Velanian lives and works in Armenia, where the brand is based. This follows six years of developing his work in Iran, largely away from the public eye. The difficulties he faced in publicly showcasing his style there encouraged him to find markets in other countries.

His specialty is working with hand-dyeing and deconstruction, achieving a very interesting texture within a restrained and mostly dark palette. “For me, clothing is a way of embodying my worldview,” he summarises. At his stand, alongside the garments for sale, a textile sculpture was displayed with an accompanying text in English.

“She refuses to be defined by the roles society has assigned her. She moulds herself from what she has been given, taking responsibility for her decisions, even when she is alone. Suffering brings no promise of liberation. She is still taking shape.”

Armenia is nestled between Georgia, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, halfway between Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. This crossroads position was also reflected in the week's line-up.

The runway also connected with the Armenian diaspora, which far exceeds the country's own population and maintains close ties to its homeland. From this diaspora came Lara Manukyan, who presented her couture and bridal brand from her atelier in Lyon, and Suzanna Margaryan, who founded Sumara in Moscow in 2017 and showed “Or noir”. International guests also included Dubai-based Dunesi, founded and directed by Finnish designer Hanne Ripsaluoma.

Collaborations with other fashion weeks were also present. Kazakhstan-based Arevik Hamar showed thanks to a three-year partnership with Visa Fashion Week Almaty. This exchange will take the Armenian brand Themis to the Kazakh runway. In Yerevan, Themis chose to pay homage to the city on its anniversary with “Monumental,” a collection inspired by the Yerevan Cascade. Its sculptural silhouettes, tailoring, and a stone-inspired palette reinterpret the monument's geometry and travertine textures. The Moldovan brand Sannàt presented “Held,” a collection about the tension between the desire for freedom and the forces that contain it. This was part of an agreement with Moldovan Brands Runway, held concurrently in Chișinău.

Heritage as a stage

Fortunately for first-time visitors to the country, several brands took their shows off the conventional runway and into Armenian heritage sites. Ruzanē gathered guests in the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral. The show began before the first model even appeared, as guests walked the final few metres to the location with Mount Ararat in the background. This is an Armenian national symbol that now lies across the border in Turkish territory.

On the runway, the collection featured highly structured peplum silhouettes. It contrasted high, rigid, and hyper-textured collars with fluid or transparent lower garments. The overall effect had a certain bucolic romanticism that recalled JW Anderson's Dior.

Loom Weaving chose the Komitas Museum, dedicated to one of the great figures of Armenian culture, the composer who helped preserve its folk music. Designer Inga Manukyan drew inspiration from one of his piano dances to create “Hyusq” (“weave”). The sound of birdsong, a recurring theme in his work, accompanied the models as they descended the building's stairs.

In the collection, open weaves, geometric openwork, chunky crochet, and fringes contrasted with tailoring featuring strong shoulders and structured lapels. Puffed skirts and rigid peplums explored volume.

Manuk Aleksanyan, one of the established names on the Armenian scene, presented a collection at the city's planetarium. It was built on recycled plastic and conceived as a reflection on our responsibility to the planet.

His work, aimed at a powerful and self-confident woman, often features textile graffiti and other interventions that make each garment unique. On the runway, the collection unfolded as a high-impact proposal. Later, in his showroom, the individual pieces also revealed their more wearable and commercial side, without losing their character.

The new generation

Alongside the established names, the week also made space for the next generation. Among the thirty young people who exhibited at Erebuni were the participants of Fashion Scout Armenia, a cornerstone of the event since its first edition. The programme aims to help the most talented young Armenian designers train abroad and gain visibility, precisely the logic Manukyan advocated.

From around 75 applications, eight finalists presented their collections to a jury. The panel included Massimiliano Giornetti, director of Polimoda; Martyn Roberts, founder of Fashion Scout; Brenda Bellei, CEO of White Milano; Vahan Khachatryan, designer and president of The Fashion and Design Chamber of Armenia; Irina Vanyan, artistic director of 5 Concept; and local designer Missak Haji Avedikian.

The jury awarded three prizes: participation in Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week for Eva Mesropyan; a summer course at Polimoda for Hasmik Hayrapetyan; and the Yerevan City Hall prize of 1,000,000 drams for Yea Balasanyan.

FashionUnited was invited to Yerevan by Yerevan Fashion Week.