Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia

Hello My Darlings, 

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back from Moscow, Russia!! And what an extraordinary adventure it was...I feel so incredibly blessed to have been one of the three selected illustrators to fly to MBFWRussia and cover the shows through live sketching. It was such a dream opportunity and one of the most surreal experiences of my life to date. From the time I landed at SVO airport I felt like Cinderella. The best part is, the spell didn't break for an entire week.

I was picked up in the official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week vehicle and driven to the stunning Hotel Metropol in the centre of Moscow. The hotel was a 3 minute walking distance from Red Square where I finally got to see St. Basil's Cathedral. The moment my eyes landed on the cathedral, tears welled in my eyes. I felt like everything I had ever imagined for my career, for Travel Write Draw, was coming true!! I was quite literally TWD'ing across the globe...

I spent my first afternoon in Moscow exploring the heart of the city. I even managed my way to the amazingly cool concept store (pictured above) Kuznetsky Most 20. It felt so amazing to be alone with my thoughts and flexing my independent travel skills again. That evening I was invited for dinner with Alexander Shumsky, the CEO/Founder of MBFWRussia, and street style photographer AltamiraNYC. We later poured over drinks at Denis Simachev Bar. I loved how warm the Russian culture was, how invited I felt, despite the cool weather. I loved even more how every bar and store I entered blasted Nu Disco, my favorite music.

On the first official day of MBFWRussia, we were asked to meet the founder at the Manege for 1:30 PM to discuss the details of our job. This is where each of us illustrators were introduced to one another, but also our personal assistants and translators. We had been assigned three of the most loving and warm-hearted girls to help us the entire week we were there. From ensuring front row seats, to coordinating with the press centre with all our final artwork, our translators were absolute miracle workers. The plan for the 5 days of MBFWRussia was to cover the ongoings backstage, from the runway, and the celebrities in attendance. We found out after our first day of sketching that all our work would be published to VOGUE Russia daily!!

I had such a blast illustrating backstage. I'm realizing now that is where I feel most at home during fashion week and also where I illustrate the strongest. It was so amazing to connect with the models too, like the beautiful Alyona G (below second from the right). You may notice in the pictures that my illustration made the front cover of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Magazine. I had a two page spread/interview with them which was so incredible. All of this certainly attributed to the feeling of euphoria brought on by this trip. On my second day, I had the opportunity to illustrate the beautiful supermodel Natalia Vodianova during her press conference and hand deliver the sketch.

Here I am above standing with a copy of the MBFWRussia Magazine with my illustration on the cover (so bloody surreal and exciting!!). On the third evening, and shortly after the above photo was taken, we were invited to dinner once again with Alexander Shumsky at the famous Turandot restaurant pictured below. The interior looks like a faberge egg - so incredibly stunning. We were serenaded by Marc Almond to the song tainted love (hilarious!!) and I got to chat with the editors from VOGUE Italia and VOGUE Brazil. It was nice to talk to people who cared more about who I was as a person and what I valued vs what I did for a living. All in all, I was completely taken with the experience and wish I could be there again right now!!

Though all good things must come to an end, I'm certain this trip is really just the beginning of a new era in my career. And I can't wait to share the journey with all of you. Thank you so, so much again to Craig Arend and Alexander Shumsky for making this incredible adventure possible. Still plenty more posts to come from all the final illustrations I did for VOGUE Russia so stay tuned.

Much love,
Meag xx