Vienna Fashion Week brings wild glamour to MuseumsQuartier

Vienna Fashion Week will bring 33 designers to Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier next week under the motto “Glamour goes Wild,” ORF reports. The 18th edition will feature international fashion creatives including Marina, Elisabeth Bauer and Frank Weeneggsinn.

The six-day programme will include runway shows, shopping opportunities and panel discussions, with a focus on creativity, diversity and support for emerging talent. Organiser Maria Oberfrank said the event would focus on young people this year.

Following the opening show on Monday evening, the Vienna pensioners’ club will present its “fenWomenal” collection on Tuesday. Thirty-five pensioners designed garments in an upcycling fashion workshop, and 30 of them will present the pieces on the runway.

“The special thing about this project is the freedom,” said Margit Sedlak-Emperer, who worked on the collection. “There are no rules about how you should look or what you should do at a certain age. We create exactly the fashion we want to wear and show ourselves.”

The collection focuses on self-determination and equality regardless of origin or age. Its name combines the words “phenomenal,” “women” and “female.” The garments are not for sale and will only be shown as part of the project.

Atena Neuhuber, the Fashion Academy and Mariella Elsa will follow, before the Combinat collective presents five labels on Tuesday evening. Wednesday’s programme will begin with a fashion talk and continue with evening shows by Palla Vienna, Dreizehn and the emerging-designers section “The Next Generation.”

Thursday’s programme will feature Helmet N Armour, Atelier Snow, Meijerhof and Elisabeth Bauer. Kiki Korsett and Elke Freytag will close the runway programme on Friday. Day tickets will provide access to all shows from Tuesday onwards.

The event will also feature Fröhlich, a Vienna fashion label that makes garments from used textiles. The fabrics come from Saubermacher, a waste disposal and recycling company that collects and recycles old textiles. Fröhlich uses fabric from overproduction and hand-dyes, prints and embroiders it.

A panel discussion titled “Fashion does not end. It begins anew” will examine the work behind the collection. Participants will include Andreas Opelt of Saubermacher and Gabriele Rigby, a designer at Fröhlich. The discussion will address the circular economy, textile production and social responsibility.