Mercedes Benz Fashion Week RUSSIA
MOSCOW
Moscow October 2019
A visual story by Gili Biegun
Landing at 2:00 AM in Sheremetyevo airport was an invigorating experience. From complete darkness the city lights in the distance create an aura in the night sky. The clouds shape and size are luminated with the city’s life. Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia driver takes me to the Metropol hotel were even at the hours between night and morning there is a Moscow glamour.
I document my Moscow experience from the passenger seat of a Mercedes Benz. The city’s eclectic architecture elements were bound together with timeless Russian sense of luxurious style and was seen best from the back window of a moving car.
The black car is racing to the streets passing years of well maintained architecture and history. The KGD Neo-Baroque building and its yellow breaks, the luxury Metropol Hotel, monuments, squares and shops. It is easy to see why Moscow is a fashion destination.
On day 2 of MBFW Russia I took The 5 minutes walk from the venue at Manege to The Metropol hotel in high heels. Even though the Mercedes Benz car is waiting for me just outside of the show, Moscow’s traffic encourage me to get some fresh air and accersize. Running in heels.
Inga, my personal assistant assigned by the MBFW Russia organisation draws my attention to the unique design of the Four Seasons hotel. Right in the centre of Moscow, just in front of the red square, ex hotel Moskva was designed by architect Alexey Shchusev in 1932.
The hotel is notable for its use of two different designs for the wings off the central structure. The legend says that Shchusev submitted to Stalin a single drawing of the façade, with one half showing one design and the other half a different design for the wings of the building. However, Stalin put his signature exactly in the middle of the drawing, not observing the two options. Afraid of informing Stalin that he had failed to select a design, the decision was made to simply construct one wing of each on either side of the building.
I couldn’t help but wonder: is this scenario still possible these days in Russia?
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