ASTANA – The seventh International Forum of Talent, Models and Designers of Fashion House International Kazakhstan (FHI) was held in Almaty’s Metro Club on June 18–20 and brought together 100 participants from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and the United States, an FHI press release reported on June 22.
The forum was divided into a Day of Beauty, a Day of Talent and a Day of Celebration. Seven young Kazakh designers showed collections at the event, which included special guests – Terani Couture representative in Russia Oksana Yakovleva and Saher Rahmani, an Iranian designer known for his fashion for hijab-wearing Muslim women. Yakovleva and Rahmani also exhibited collections in a separate showing at the forum.
A number of pageants were also held during the event, including competitions for teens and children. Winner of the Grand Prize of the forum’s beauty contests, 15-year-old Diana Bakhtiyarkyzy from Semey, will go on to represent Kazakhstan at the FHI International Forum in Vietnam. She also won the main prize of the beauty competitions – a diamond and turquoise tiara worth $10,000, FHI Kazakhstan reported. The total prize fund was $40,000, the Profashion website reports.
The forum also saw performances by dance groups, singers and other performers, as well as dombra recitals. The event was supported by the nonprofit organisation “Lots of Great People,” which builds a list of people who it believes to have a positive impact on the world, Komsomolskaya Pravda reports. This year, nine Kazakhs were added to the list, including filmmaker Sergey Azimov, opera singer Anna Azerli, actor Asanali Ashimov and producer Karina Sarsenova, who attended the forum.
FHI is an international nonprofit organisation that promotes fashion and show business and the people that work in those industries. It was founded in the U.S. in 2003, an office was opened in Almaty in 2009.
