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Riga Fashion Week begins on Tuesday, 20 October, bringing a new autumn programme of runway shows, exhibitions, workshops and professional events to the Latvian capital. The five-day edition runs through 24 October and is presented by the Baltic Fashion Federation as the event’s 43rd edition.
This year’s programme places Latvian designers within a wider regional setting. Alongside established names from Latvia, the schedule includes participants from Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Italy and Uzbekistan. The organisers describe the programme as a meeting point between fashion heritage, contemporary design and a younger generation of creative businesses. ([rfw.lv](https://www.rfw.lv/))
A waterfront opening
The opening event on 20 October moves fashion away from a conventional indoor catwalk. “Sunset Runway at the Marina” is scheduled for the ExPorto yacht marina on Eksporta Street, where a 100-metre wooden pier beside the Daugava will serve as the setting for presentations by Katrina Ermanovica from Latvia, Szczygiel from the United Kingdom and Poland, and Dekel from Italy.
The choice of venue gives the opening a distinctly Riga character: industrial waterfront space, river views and the city’s changing relationship with its former port areas. It also makes the first evening accessible as a public-facing cultural occasion rather than only an industry presentation, although individual programme elements have different access arrangements.
Design as a conversation
A central discussion on the first full day asks how emerging designers can be supported today. The panel brings together representatives of Play Sustain Foundation in Poland, Estonian Fashion Festival and Sustainable Fashion Week Vilnius. Its focus reflects a practical issue facing young labels across the region: how to build visibility, production capacity and sustainable business models while remaining distinctive in a crowded international market.
The wider schedule combines commercial presentations with exhibitions and educational activity. The Fashion Museum is showing “Celebrities’ Outfits”, while the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design is presenting “Rūdolfs Heimrāts 100. Legacy”. Heimrāts is an important figure in Latvia’s fashion and textile history, and the anniversary exhibition gives the contemporary programme a historical frame.
At ISSP in Berga Bazārs, a workshop titled “Paris Make-up Trends. From Runway to Reality” offers a more hands-on element, led by Latvian make-up artist Andre Won. Other programme items include designer presentations, media sessions and activities in Latvian designer shops and studios.
Runways across the city
The main runway programme is distributed between two contemporary Riga venues. Zunda Towers hosts presentations on 21 October, including N-20 and Nora Isle from Estonia, Dekel from Italy and a Play Sustain programme featuring three Polish designers. Hanzas Perons then becomes the principal runway venue on 22 and 23 October.
The Hanzas Perons schedule includes Latvian, Lithuanian and international labels. Paade Mode marks its 15th anniversary with a kidswear show, while RainSisters, Natalija Jansone, BAE by Katya Shehurina and Sviests by Sergey Hatanzeisky represent different strands of Latvia’s current design scene. Lithuanian participation includes Valldea, Maria Petraityte and Rimgailaite Costume, while Szczygiel returns to the programme with a presentation at Hanzas Perons.
The programme also extends beyond clothing. On 23 October, the Art Academy of Latvia is scheduled to host the free contemporary textile exhibition “Unravellers. A Textile Manifesto”. The exhibition connects fashion week with textile art and material experimentation, broadening the event’s focus from seasonal collections to the ideas and techniques behind them.
A citywide creative platform
Riga Fashion Week is not a single-site event. Its venues range from a marina and a former railway-related cultural space to museums, galleries, studios and retail locations. That distribution allows visitors to encounter fashion as part of the city’s wider cultural infrastructure rather than as an isolated trade presentation.
Riga’s official visitor platform lists the event among the city’s major festivals and festivities from 20 to 24 October. The listing places it alongside the capital’s theatre, music, exhibition and design programme, confirming its role as part of the city’s public cultural calendar. ([liveriga.com](https://www.liveriga.com/en/visit/events))
For Latvia’s creative sector, the week offers a concentrated opportunity to show how local design can operate at several levels at once: as a heritage practice, a small-business activity, an international collaboration and a form of public culture. Its most constructive feature is the combination of visibility and exchange—bringing Latvian labels into contact with neighbouring countries while giving audiences several ways to engage, from exhibitions and workshops to runway shows.
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