About DAFES AWARDS
We established the international competition program DAFES AWARDS to encourage creative achievements, share experiences and form guidelines for professional development in design, art, fashion, education and business.
DAFES AWARDS is awarded in five profiles, 20 categories and 80 nominations, as well as various partner nominations that we form together with educational and creative institutions.
About the nomination
This nomination accepts projects carried out by designers working in the field of fashion, including graduates of Russian and foreign universities.
The participants can submit an original clothing collection, either created specifically for the competition or developed for presentation on the market or for another brand not earlier than last year.
The key award criteria include: a unique concept, compelling artistic choices, stylistic coherence, superior technical craftsmanship, and a high-quality visual aesthetic.
Terms of participation
Both concepts and projects that have been implemented or published between November 1, 2023, and October 12, 2025, are accepted for professional nominations.
While confirmation of publication or implementation is not required for a project to participate in the competition, the jury may request verification from the competition organizers in disputed cases.
Requirements to projects
The competition requires the creation of a clothing collection consisting of 5-7 looks.
The optimal composition of the competition project is:
- The creator’s manifesto; - A mood board / references / the inspiration for the collection; - Collection sketches; - Photos of completed products and/or image shoots.
All projects are submitted to the competition in the format of a longread-format report created on the deziiign.com platform.
Jury
Anzor Kankulov is the head of the Fashion department at the HSE School of Design. Journalist and fashion expert who worked as the editor-in-chief of OM and Harper’s Bazaar magazines, and as the editorial director of L’Officiel and Numero magazines.
Evelina Khromchenko is a TV presenter, fashion expert, founder of L’Officiel magazine.
Ksenia Solovyova is a journalist, former editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, stylist, and fashion editor.
Anastasia Poletaeva is the head of content and design at tsum.ru, and host of the BEZFILTROV YouTube channel.
Anton Gulevsky is a fashion journalist and host of the That’s Haute channel.
Tatiana Maksimova is the editor-in-chief of Voice Shopping magazine.
Vasilisa Gamaleya-Gusarova — stylist, creative director, head of the Sputnik Supervison and Vizible agencies.
Maria Klyuchevskaya — designer, creative director of the InShade brand.
Leonid Alekseev — designer, creative director of the House of Leo brand.
Ekaterina Sycheva — designer, curator of the HSE School of Design.
Ekaterina Pavelko — Fashion editor, stylist, costume designer.
Registering and uploading a project
The step-by-step way to create an account and create a project on the platform to participate in the contest is described in the instructions.
Stages of the competition
Project submission deadline — October 12, 2025 Voting proccess — October 13 to 19, 2025 Invitation of participants and preparation for the ceremony — October 20 to November 7, 2025
Awarding ceremony
The award ceremony for the winners will take place on November 21, 2025
Contacts