With a vision to democratise fashion in Bangladesh, ARKA Fashion Week will be launching for the first time ever on 26 October 2023. The three-day event is all set to take place at Aloki Convention Center, 211 Tejgaon Link Road, between 11AM to 10PM each day until 28 October, 2023.

An initiative of ARKA Studio, ARKA Fashion Week comes with a commitment to provide equitable opportunities to all kinds of designers and brands. This will be the perfect opportunity for everyone in Bangladesh to immerse themselves in the local fashion scene and chic designs. The overarching objective of ARKA Fashion Week is to see Bangladesh graduate from exporting garments to exporting fashion — to see Bangladeshi brands and retail labels add value in terms of culture export. ARKA believes that this evolution in our fashion and textile industry will help raise the stature of our nation and further improve our economy.

ARKA Fashion Week, which aims to take place bi-annually, will host six segments each targeting a different facet of fashion and culture, so ARKA Fashion Week is curated to attract a diverse group of people.

MARKETPLACE

This section, which is the heart of the event, will house over 50 entrepreneurs and brands which work with fashion, fashion accessories, and fashion related products, made in Bangladesh. A core philosophy to expect among the brands to be found in the Marketplace is sustainability. Most participants of ARKA Fashion Week Marketplace are are small boutiques and/or e-commerce brands. As the exposure of these talented, local brands is limited, they have a certain disadvantage. ARKA Fashion Week hopes to bridge that gap and give a platform to these all these incredible, locally grown brands. Some of the participants of the Marketplace in ARKA Fashion Week are Aranya, Shape, Dacca, Kino, Strides n Co., Bosporous, Biskut Factory, Dour, Tapered and Enso among many others.

DESIGN LAB

ARKA Fashion Week promises to be an event this nation has not experienced before. The event will be hosting a very interactive space where one can create their own designs. The concept is to walk in and purchase a ‘canvas’ i.e., products like a plain t-shirt, hat, tote bag or scarf, which can then be customised at any of the seven different design stations such as block printing, screen printing, hand-paint, patchwork, different forms of embellishments and appliqués, etc. This is a segment that any age group will enjoy participating in and can use to channel their creativity.

Since it’s a design lab and not a workshop, anyone can come in at any time, buy a product and head over to the station to work on their design.

ART GALLERY

This space will host an exhibition curated by Shehzad Chowdhury and Adrita Mahin Khan on the theme ‘analogue to digital.’ The exhibition will be a collaborative installation between ten different visual artists; Reesham Shabab Tirtho, Sumana Akhter, Abrar Shadman Arnab, Abir Khalid, Ehfaz Rezwan, Imran Hasan, Sakib Tonmoy, Adrita Mahin Khan, and two sound artists; Dameer Khan and Siam. Through the amalgamation of the artwork curated especially for this event, this space is meant to be an experience of our transition from analogue to digital.

FOOD ZONE

Offering a diverse variety of food and a choice of different cuisines, the Food Zone will be more of a hangout space rather than a typical food court. The presentation and the seating of the area will reflect that idea, so expect to experience something different here as well.

MUSIC

Each day of the event will end with a concert, featuring the likes of Meghdol, Jol Er Gaan and others.

FASHION SHOW

This will be an exclusive and invite-only segment with a total of 8 shows that will take place across 2 days. The shows will be split into three themes; youth-centric, experimentalism and sustainability. Expect the unexpected — twists, performances and unconventional elements within the shows that most fashion events in Bangladesh have yet not showcased.

The aim of the fashion show is to highlight upcoming young designers who have immense talent, but usually do not get the opportunity to showcase their skills. Designers with Bangladeshi roots who are now based in the US or Europe are also taking part in this show. Moreover, the runway will feature 15 designers/design students from design institutions.

Utah Group, BGMEA, Paramount Textile and Prothom Alo are the Gold Sponsors, while MTB, YOYOSO and APEX are the Silver Sponsors of this event. The Strategic Partners of the event are Prime Bank, Scratchboard, Bhai Bhai Productions, Blitz, ICE Today, Gala Makeover Studio & Salon by Navin Ahmed, Aloki, BAYLA, Haal Fashion, and the Patron Partners are Rave, CAF, Kona Cafe.

The event is now open for registration. The general entry tickets are priced at Tk 100 and can be secured from tickets.arkafw.com (excludes entry to fashion show and concerts).

For more information, please visit www.arkafw.com or their social media pages Facebook: www.Facebook.com/arkafashionweek

Instagram: @arkafashionweek