The main runway programme will take place at Zunda Towers on 21 October, followed by Hanzas Perons on 22 and 23 October. Alongside established designers and brands — “Natalija Jansone”, “Szczygiel”, “BAE by Katya Shehurina” and “Rimgailaite Costume” — this season Riga Fashion Week will welcome Estonian brand “N-20”, Lithuanian brand “Valldea”, Italian brand “DEKEL”, three finalists of Poland’s “Play Sustain” competition, Latvian designer Katrīna Ermanoviča, and Lithuanian designer Marija Petraitīte (Maria Petraityte) as newcomers to the event. The 23 October programme will also mark the 15th anniversary of Latvian children’s fashion brand “Paade Mode”.
Several of Riga Fashion Week’s newcomers have already attracted attention on major regional platforms for emerging talent: Estonian brand “N-20” received recognition at the Estonian Fashion Festival in Tartu; Katrīna Ermanoviča was featured at the Latvian Academy of Art Fashion Show; Marija Petraitīte presented her work at Vilnius Fashion Week; while three young Polish designers were selected as finalists in the “Play Sustain” circular fashion competition held in Warsaw.
In turn, on October 21, from 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM, a panel discussion titled “How Can We Support Young Designers Today?” will take place as part of Riga Fashion Week. The discussion will focus on opportunities to foster the professional development of emerging fashion talents and enhance their international visibility. The panel will feature Tariel Bisharyan from “Emerging Talents Milan” (Italy), Key Kulaots from “Estonian Fashion Festival” (Estonia), Sofia Klein from “Play Sustain Foundation” (Poland), and Lucine Ayanian from “HAY-HAY Concept” (Switzerland).
The autumn programme of Riga Fashion Week will explore fashion beyond seasonal collections. The exhibition “Celebrity Outfits” at the Fashion Museum will focus on clothing as a reflection of personality and a testimony to its era, while the Decorative Arts and Design Museum will present “Rūdolfs Heimrāts 100. Heritage”. The programme will also include “Unravellers. A Textile Manifesto”, an exhibition of contemporary textile art organised by the Visual Arts Department of the Latvian Academy of Art. Here, textiles are used not to create fashion, but as the material, form of expression and metaphor of an artwork, connecting historical experience with contemporary interpretations of material, ideas and form. During Riga Fashion Week, the exhibition will be open to the public free of charge at the Latvian Academy of Art’s Great Hall on 23 October from 10:00 to 18:00. It will then remain open on weekdays from October 23 to November 20.
Alongside the runway shows and exhibitions, the programme will feature collection presentations in more intimate settings suited to professional exchange. Iveta Vecmane will present her latest collection at the brand’s store, while on 23 October, Butterman Studio’s Latvian Design Stories store will host a joint presentation featuring Una Bērziņa, Estonian designer Hannes Rütel, Letīcija Orlova and Lithuanian brand “No More Accessories”. A separate event will also be dedicated to the Latvia-based design of Gundega Dūduma’s “Keymono” brand, which will take place at the Benjamin House.
The diverse formats and generations of designers come together to form a unified programme narrative — from the heritage of fashion and textile art to new collections, international professional exchange and the next generation of names in Baltic fashion.
The full programme and exact event times are already available on the Riga Fashion Week website and social media channels. Additional information about the participating designers will be published gradually.
