MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Fashion Week featuring Fall/Winter 2006-2007 collections rounded off the weekend in Moscow.
More than 50 fashion designers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, as well as their colleagues from Britain, the United States and other countries, displayed their collections in runway shows held in a pavilion near Red Square.
British fashion celebrity Jenny Packham held her runway shows in Moscow again this year, with Russian pop diva Valeria strutting the designer's evening and wedding gowns.
Fellow British designer Zandra Rhodes, known for her innovative designs, opened the week's events with her new collection.
"We wanted the project to target, above all, people living and working in Russia, and to foster demand for domestic designers," Alexander Shumsky, the producer of Russian Fashion Week (RFW), said.
Some designers showcased T-shirts with anti-AIDS slogans and symbols as part of a project to raise public awareness about the rapidly spreading disease. Russian Designers against AIDS was hosted by Miss Universe 2005 Natalia Glebova, a Russian emigre living in Canada.
One full day was devoted to fashion designers from St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city.
Shubsky said the event would help promote Russian designers in the post-Soviet territory, while others would be offered contracts with leading Western design houses.
Shubsky also said similar events were being planned in other Russian cities and former Soviet republics.
RFW is the first Russian fashion event to receive official backing from the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications.
