(Photo: Lola Banet/Bevza)

Bevza

Unusually, Svitlana Bevza’s degree was in economics, though she always longed to run a fashion house. Self-taught, she finally launched her brand in 2006 in her hometown, Kyiv, where her clothes are still manufactured. Good financial sense sent her to international markets – she shows in New York and Paris, and currently lives in London. Her style is cool, modern and urban, all based on squares, but so fluid and elegant no one would know.

(Photo © Magda Butrym)
Magda Butrym

The handicrafts of her Polish homeland guide the Warsaw-based designer’s thinking. While she is known for a high-glamour, 1980s-influenced style of wide-shouldered tailoring and leather jackets teamed with very short or long dresses (always sinuously draped), she adorns these with feminine details like embroidery, crochet or fabric roses. After more than a decade in business, her creations – all made in Poland – grace many of the world’s chicest boutiques.

 (Photo © Auralee)
Auralee

Ryota Iwai, the brand’s designer, is one of the new wave of Japanese fashion creatives producing superficially relaxed, modern collections elevated by the best fabrics. A former knitwear designer, he works closely with mills around the world to get his hands on exclusive fabrics and colours. Based in Tokyo, shown in Paris and, initially, limited to menswear, Auralee’s collections are now co-ed with some elements interchangeable and its womenswear equally successful.

 (Photo © Litkovska)
Litkovska

Lilia Litkovska is one of Ukraine’s most established designers, basing her work on a philosophy of transformation, with pieces wearable in different ways for clients to express their own style. Easy asymmetry and architectural cuts on trench coats, tailoring and dresses are softened with artisan weaves and embroidery. Designed in Kyiv and shown in Paris, her rarefied creations are sold through avant-garde stores worldwide.

 (Photo © Gaurav Gupta)
Gaurav Gupta

A couturier whose dramatic sculptural, draped and wave-like gowns fly high on the red carpet, Gupta’s work also reflects deep principles of Indian philosophy. His spring 2026 Paris couture show mused on duality and oneness, from male and female to architecture and anatomy, with specially developed fine filaments linking bodies and tracing the pathways within. Ready-to-wear tones down the decoration, but still stuns.

 (Photo © Rahul Mishra)
Rahul Mishra

Dramatic, West-facing shows like Spring 2026’s elements-inspired Alchemy cemented Delhi-based Mishra’s fame as the first Indian designer invited to show at Paris Haute Couture. Guided by sustainable production principles, highly skilled embroiderers, beaders and weavers work from their villages to help bring Mishra’s ideas to life. Known for exquisite bridal and wedding-guest dresses, Mishra also blends East and West in ready-to-wear.

 (Photo © Shu Shu Tong)
Shushu/Tong

In the vanguard of Chinese designers looking to Western markets, the duo behind the 11-year-old brand, which shows in Shanghai, has been on a journey – both literal and stylistic. Beginning with the Noughties’ Far East cutesy, youthful look, they have graduated, in their thirties, to a layered, whimsical aesthetic. Hints of Prada and Chanel, maybe, but it has rewarded them with space on Net-a-Porter.

 (Photo: Mika Inoue)
Yuima Nakazato

The Tokyo-born designer explores the worlds of nature and ancient Japanese landscapes via couture and made-to-measure pieces using upcycled fabrics. His latest collection is inspired by the timelessness of Yakushima, where thousand-year-old cedar trees grow among river-carved rocks. He replicated landscape elements in ceramic decorations, which produced the only sounds in an otherwise silent show. He is also a noted theatre- and opera-costume designer.

(Header Photo © Gaurav Gupta)