October 20, “Admiralty Needle” International Contest of Young Designers is coming to an end in Saint Petersburg. The festival was 29th consecutive and ran for 5 days from October 16 to 20.

This year the motto of the festival is “Virtual realities of Admiralty Needle”. Designers could bring their brightest ideas to live by using VR, AI and neural nets to create digital and real design looks.

More than 500 young designers presented their works in the field of fashion-industry on the grounds of Saint-Petersburg State University of Technology and Design (SPSUTD).

Participants had four nominations to choose between: “Pret-a-porte cloth”, “Digital fashion”, “Fashion Pixel”, “Multimedia” and “Fashion and augmented reality”, including such directions as vintage, ethno-costume, customization.

The jury panel consisted of representatives from 7 countries, these are Russia, Belarus, Italy, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The jury gave high points to our comrades, thusly: Designers, who performed at republican festive contest of fashion and photo “Melnitsa Mody” took winning places.

In first place in “Daily fasion” was Maria and Irina Strelchyk and their “Francysk Skoryna” collection.

In first place in “Circular fashion” was Valentina Gorban of Minsk and her “Mimikriya Chasu” (Time mimesis).

In third place in “Daily fashion” was Anton Mazharin” of VSTU and his “1868” collection.

Belarusian designers did not leave without special prizes such as: free participation in fashion and design projects in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan; International professional fashion exhibit CPM in Russia.

The Grand-prix went to Saidova Ayshat for her “post-human” collection.

By the way, the source of inspiration for the creation of the collection, which took 1st place, was the work of the Belarusian humanist of the first half of the 16th century, medical scientist, artist and educator Francysk Skoryna. The collection's models contain hand-painted elements, texts in the form of pages, capital letters from the pioneer printer's books using the wet batik technique, leather painting, as well as fabric painting of the pioneer printer's coat of arms - images of the sun and moon.

“This was the first time we represented Belarus at this international festival and we worried a lot. Our goal was not to win but we pleased we did it and we are proud for our fatherland” says Irina Strelchyk”.

The organizers of the large-scale competition note its great demand, which contributes to the development of design, light and textile industries. It is emphasized that the competition not only promotes creativity, but also introduces young professionals to new trends in the global fashion industry.

Many participants of the Admiralty Needle receive the first professional assessment in their lives as part of the competition. For young designers, this is an excellent start into the world of big fashion.

Over the course of several days, guests of the International Fashion Festival were able to get acquainted with a collection of casual business-style clothing for schoolchildren and a collection of youth clothing dedicated to the art of Kandinsky and Malevich, the period of Soviet constructivism, and attend open master classes on the topic “What is happening today with fashion in Russia and in the world?".

The intense program of the competition included the exhibitions “Virtual Museum of Fashion “PromTechDesign” and a Gala Show. As part of the VIP show, new collections of talented winners of the Admiralty Needle of past years were presented.

A unique “Belle Epoque” fashion show also took place, immersing viewers in the fashion of the 19th and 20th centuries, which featured collections of vintage clothing, including unique looks from the early 20th century, Soviet fashion of the 30s and 40s, as well as styles from the 70s and 90s. -ies of the last century from private collections.

The organizer of the festival is St. Petersburg University of Industrial Technologies and Design.