16 February 2009 | Fashion across Southeast Europe shows innovation, a continued industry in high-end style and possibilities for co-operation beyond national boundaries.

Fashion week in Istanbul -- one of Europe's "capitals of culture" for 2010 -- featured the debut of fall-winter collections and the latest innovations in haute couture from two dozen Turkish designers.

The four-day event, which ended February 6th, was sponsored in co-operation with Fashion Designers Association and the Istanbul Fashion Academy. The event attracted 35,000 visitors, including US actress Meg Ryan.

In December, there was similar interest at the two biggest Croatian fashion shows -- Dove Fashion.hr and Cro-a-Porter, which opened the autumn season.

Croatia's fashion industry has produced a number of new designers who work hard to be original, trendy and innovative, while simultaneously attracting clients from the world of celebrities and pitching their clothes to everyday men and women.

It is no secret that people in the Balkans like to dress well and meticulously follow latest fashion trends. Many tourists who visit Southeast European countries for the first time often mention that the number of well-dressed women and men in the streets is astonishing.

Celebrities and fashion designers in the Balkans are known to work well together. The latest evidence came when Croatian singing star Severina had Serbian designer Zvonko Markovic make her wedding dress.

Designs seen at Dove Fashion.hr and the 14th Cro-a-Porter emphasized a return to high fashion and elegance. In attendance were some of the biggest names in Croatian fashion, including Robert Sever, the Elfs duo, Hippy Garden, I-GLE, and

Branka Donassy. Serbian designer Dijana Pavlov attended as a special guest. "The dress is our eternal inspiration because we consider the dress to be the queen of fashion," said twin sisters Morana Saracevic and Marija Cicko Karapetric from Studio Boudoir. Their collection, "The Importance of Being Alice", was inspired by the Lewis Carroll masterpiece "Alice in Wonderland", and closed the Cro-a-Porter show.

Elfs, comprised of designers Ivan Tandaric and Aleksandar Sekuljica, showed a collection inspired by the 1980s American soap opera "Dynasty". The young designers are sometimes called the Dolce and Gabbana of the Balkans.

For the past nine years, Jana Sarajevo Fashion Week (SFW) has hosted designers from around the world with two main shows taking place in the spring and the fall. "We succeeded not only in promoting Bosnian designers but also in commercializing local brands," founder Amela Radan said.

The four-day show in late November in the BiH capital drew several thousand people. There, a collection from the Italian house Glamur was followed by local designer Admir Karisik, who presented dance costumes worn by BiH dancers moving to Latino music. The fourth night opened a designer from Serbia, Irena Grahovac, with a Pret-a-Porte collection inspired by the 1940s.

Belgrade Fashion Week -- whose theme this year was "Winds of Change" -- is one of the strongest shows in the region, taking place in late October. All proceeds went to the Center for Integration of Youth.

It's been a long road since 1996, when Fashion Studio Click initiated Belgrade Fashion Week on the example of the world's great fashion centers. Today, domestic designers have an opportunity to present their work and young talent has a chance at breaking into the real world of fashion while presenting their work to the general public.

In Romania, critics are asking themselves what direction fashion in their country is headed. International brands are becoming more and more powerful, replacing home-grown fashion on TV, in magazines and, most importantly, consumers’ closets.

Southeast European Times contributor Alina Bandila in Bucharest contributed to this story.

*This text is courtesy of the Southeast European Times (SET), a web site sponsored by the US Department of Defense in support of UN Resolution 1244, designed to provide an international audience with a portal to a broad range of information about Southeastern Europe. It highlights movement toward greater regional stability and steps governments take toward integration into European institutions. SET also focuses on developments that hinder both terrorist activity and support for terrorism in the region.

Read more about the recent Sofia Fashion Week on BalkanTravellers.com