Sri Lanka heads to Moscow for prestigious BRICS+ Fashion Summit
Daily FT: Moscow, known for its rich cultural heritage and ranked as a top luxury market, hosts the prestigious BRICS+ Fashion Summit from 3 to 7 October.
The BRICS summit has expanded in size, scale and influence with 70 countries participating.
Colombo Fashion Week Ajai Vir Singh is invited as a speaker at this prestigious forum in Moscow. This global event, the largest of its kind for the emerging fashion markets, will be held in Moscow and will bring together industry leaders, heads of fashion associations, manufacturers, designers, and experts from around the world to discuss the future of fashion.
The week-long programme will include a comprehensive Business Programme, an International Exhibition titled “Heritage”, which features modern interpretations of cultural codes in fashion design from across the globe, and educational events.
Vir Singh will speak at two forums with focus on Circularity and on creating brands in new markets, he is to also foster multi-vector cooperation in the fashion industry, strengthen cultural and business ties, and address pressing issues like innovation and sustainable development. As the key event in emerging fashion markets, the Summit focuses on the challenges and achievements of talented individuals, designers, and companies within the industry. Sri Lanka’s point of view in emerging fashion and culture will be invaluable in supporting emerging designer brands on a global scale. Summit discussions will also delve into topics such as artificial intelligence, investment, and manufacture.
“This BRICS+ Fashion Summit can become one of the engines of growth for emerging markets if it can align the various participating fashion industries with products which are relevant to global markets particularly with sustainable supply chains. Right now, the fashion in emerging markets is fragmented, it needs a platform that consolidates them and presents them. This Summit has the potential to be that,” shares Ajai Vir Singh.
The International Exhibition “Heritage” will be a highlight of the Summit. It will showcase the powerful influence of national and cultural heritage of BRICS countries, as well as countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America on modern clothing design and reflect the global trend of embracing cultural codes in a contemporary context.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s expanding economic activities are witnessed in all sectors including the fashion industry. The local fashion industry that focuses on sustainable fashion through the annual event, the Colombo Fashion Week, has been recognized overseas as well. The participation of the presenter of Colombo Fashion Week at the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is indicative of the expansion of Sri Lanka’s fashion industry as well. The country’s fashion industry has played a key role in promoting tourism, culture as well as responsible fashion through the sustainability initiative. All these have had a direct impact on the country’s textile and apparel industry as well. The growth in the tourism industry as well as Sri Lanka’s expanding trade ties have in-turn expanded the business/investment opportunities in the country’s fashion industry. Most of these opportunities range from creating new brands to finding new markets as well. Given the continuous expansion in Sri Lanka’s fashion industry and the growing business potential, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore direct opportunities in the local fashion industry while also looking at the indirect business/investment opportunities in the related sectors.