Lado Bokuchava at MBFW Tbilisi. *Credits: Alicia Reyes Sarmiento | FashionUnited.*

Strategically positioned between Europe and Asia, Tbilisi is a tapestry of historical layers. Soviet heritage, brutalist architecture and medieval churches coexist with a cultural scene linked to electronic music, independent art and new creative communities. This coexistence of references has made the Georgian capital a particularly interesting observatory for understanding how new cultural discourses emerge from hybrid and constantly transforming contexts.

For several years, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week circuit operated as a global network of interconnected platforms, within which Tbilisi progressively built its own identity. International designers, including Spanish names like Dominnico and Célia Valverde, participated in the Georgian catwalk through creative exchange programmes that helped position the city on the industry's international radar.

After a four-year hiatus, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi returned from May 7 to 10, 2026, reaffirming the city's role as a meeting place between tradition and modernity. In this edition, fashion once again functioned not only as a commercial platform or aesthetic exercise but also as a tool for cultural reflection and a vehicle for articulating new creative narratives from the Caucasus region.

“I think this edition stood out both for the strength of the collections and the way the designers presented them; after such a long break, it felt like a real breath of fresh air for our city,” said Sofia Tchkonia, founder of the event. She also stressed the relevance of MBFW Tbilisi as an essential platform for local fashion that “plays a fundamental role in allowing Georgian designers to present their work from their own cultural context and project it to a global audience”.

The programme, held mainly at Factory Tbilisi, brought together catwalk shows, installations, conferences and round tables focused on technological innovation, sustainability and new production models.

Carpet weaving is one of the greatest expressions of the cultural heritage of the Caucasus, and it is carried out exclusively by women. At the main entrance of Factory Tbilisi, two generations of master weavers from Borchalo, in southern Georgia, worked live on a traditional loom as part of the installation by Galib Gassanoff, a finalist for the LVMH Prize 2026 and winner of the Zalando Visionary Award.

Born in Georgia and later trained in Milan, Gassanoff presented in Tbilisi an extension of Institution, the project he launched in 2024. With it, he has shifted his practice from ready-to-wear to research focused on Caucasian textile heritage. His work incorporates ancestral weaving techniques developed with rural communities and translates them into architecturally constructed silhouettes. This positions craftsmanship not as a decorative element, but as the conceptual structure of a collection that, on this occasion, was incredibly woven from shoelaces.

Galib Gassanoff at MBFW Tbilisi. *Credits: Alicia Reyes Sarmiento | FashionUnited*

The decision to place the artisanal process at the centre of the exhibition experience also connected directly with the work of Samoseli Pirveli. The firm was founded in 2009 with the aspiration of seeing new generations wear traditional garments reinterpreted for modern life, an idea that runs through both the firm's work and much of the local creative scene.

From the men's chokha – a long, fitted wool coat – to silk dresses and hand-embroidered garments, the project has built a narrative based on the active preservation of local savoir faire and the reintroduction of historical codes into contemporary wardrobes.

Image of traditional Georgian costumes and a bridal cape in the Samoseli Pirveli workshop. *Credits: Alicia Reyes Sarmiento | FashionUnited.*

Fashion as a political space

The catwalk transforms into a political space as the God Era collection unfolds. It is conceived as a direct response to the country's context, where creation coexists with “political pressure, social uncertainty and a constant sense of friction between openness and restriction”.

In the words of its founder, Nino Goderidze, creating from Tbilisi means “operating within a constant friction between freedom and restriction,” a condition in which cultural production cannot be detached from the political environment. “We are connected to global culture, while at the same time we are deeply rooted in a very specific local reality.”

God Era at MBFW Tbilisi. *Credits: Alicia Reyes Sarmiento | FashionUnited.*

This interpretation runs through a proposal that turns clothing into language and archive, incorporating references to censorship, migration and queer expression as structural axes. The idea of migration is not limited here to its geopolitical dimension. It shifts towards the psychological, as a persistent feeling in the younger generation who imagine the future from a place of uncertainty. In this context, models walk the catwalk saying: “I should leave, start a whole new life... maybe I should apply for asylum.”

In parallel, garments appear covered in “dust,” like those many women keep for “special” occasions, thus accumulating not only wear and tear bu...

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