LMA Fashion Show 2018 to Be Held in the Former Manufaktūra Factory Premises

The annual fashion show of students of the Art Academy of Latvia (LMA) will take place this year on 6 June, and the premises of the former textile factory “Riga Manufactory” at 401 Brīvības gatve, Riga, have been chosen as its venue. During the show, the most striking collections created by students of the Fashion Art subfield of the Department of Design during the past academic year will be presented. This year, the colourful 1990s—the period when the Department of Fashion Art was founded—have been chosen as the central theme of the fashion show’s visual design.

The LMA student fashion show is one of the year’s most anticipated local fashion events, which traditionally attract hundreds of interested visitors. This year too, the works of students in the LMA bachelor’s and master’s programmes were assessed in mid-May by a commission from the LMA Department of Fashion, and after careful selection, the 19 strongest clothing collections created by young fashion artists for women and men were approved for participation in the show.

“We highly value the diversity of talent and the various forms in which students’ ideas are expressed; however, the fashion-show format is a framework that can present only some of the forms of fashion design and costume art effectively. At the LMA fashion show, audiences will have the opportunity to see the nineteen collections by young designers best suited to this format—others, more appropriate for presentation in a “showroom”, will provide additional insight into current developments and achievements in the Fashion Design Department,” emphasises the head of the LMA Department of Fashion, Associate Professor Māra Binde.

This year marks 25 years since professional higher education in fashion design became available in Latvia, and it is significant that the scenographic concept of the fashion show will also be symbolically permeated by the meaningful year 1993. The LMA fashion show venue was not chosen by chance—the premises of the former Jugla textile factory are a historic architectural site that has witnessed the development of Latvian fashion for almost a century and, visually, still embody the characteristic aura of the 20th century that once prevailed in this building.

The event will take place in the former Manufaktūra factory, which will soon join Riga’s range of modern, multifunctional business premises. The 30,000 m2 industrial space will accommodate both contemporary, functional offices and a wide range of craftspeople. Holding the LMA fashion show in the former factory premises thus marks a significant new, particularly creative era in the development of the factory buildings.

The following talented fashion design students will present their collections at the LMA Fashion Show: Laura Valtera, Anna Elizabete Kasparsone, Ieva Kupcāne, Elīna Grīnberga, Baiba Tamane, Marta Laima Mielava, Elīna Baltace, Una Bērziņa, Sanita Kapeika, Dita Enikova, Romija Štāle, Ksenija Belca Beslere, Anita Leina, Monta Pētersone, Evija Šaitere, Arvis Kantiševs, Anna Gulbe, Karīna Krista Līkanse and Laima Jurča, who promise to surprise those attending with particularly original design solutions.

As part of the LMA fashion show, in cooperation with the creative-industry portal FOLD, open lectures by industry experts will also take place at the academy’s premises on 7 June. On 8 June, a publicly accessible exhibition of young designers’ collections, or “showroom”, will open; this year it will form part of a unified programme of events and allow everyone interested to learn more about the work of young fashion artists.

The author of the visual identity for the 2018 fashion show is Sigita Sniegs, a second-year master’s student in Visual Communication at the LMA.

Tickets for the fashion show are available on the website www.ekase.lv.

Updates from the Department of Fashion Art and the preparation process for the fashion show can be followed on the LMA’s social media channels, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMAfashion and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lmamodesmaksla.

The fashion show is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation and the Riga City Council; organised by the Art Academy of Latvia.