No sanctions on style

I was both thrilled and alarmed to be invited to this year’s Moscow Fashion Week; it’s slowly but sure-footedly trailing back to normal after the pandemic shutdown.

- NAMRATA ZAKARIA

Thrilled because this is not my first visit to the event. I have made friends and enjoyed the fashions presented, especially its very edgy street-wear. Alarmed because Russia has upped the ante on its war with Ukraine for two years now, and a fashion week would probably be the last thing on any Russian’s mind, I thought.

I was wrong. Life in Russia moves on as if war is nothing but a part-time pursuit. I land in one of Moscow’s three international airports to be driven to Metropol, my luxury hotel, in a swanky new Mercedes. Mercedes Benz was the erstwhile title sponsor of the Moscow Fashion Week. Now the week has no title sponsors, just a small fleet of partners, none of whom are openly credited.