Moscow may not be your current go-to destination for fashion, but that’s about to change. Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia wrapped up recently on October 19th, highlighting the Siberian nation’s most up-and-coming designers. The central theme? A carefree exploration of sartorial possibility, unencumbered by historical precedent. Model Katerina Koshkina stunned in head-to-toe sequin and rhinestone, and Red September played coy by dressing their models in colorful animal masks. What is fashion but an elaborate game of dress-up?

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Russian-based streetwear brand Kruzhok also played up their animal instincts with a horny approach to camouflage. The label began as a photojournal of Russia’s underground scene, and blossomed into a cultural creator in its own right.

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Pirosmani, meanwhile, proved that you can put matter over mind with their 2020 show “SHARP+matter,” a grungey, constructivist approach to winterwear. The label relied heavily on geometric form and organic dishevelment, producing a line that lies halfway between streetwear and armor.

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Perhaps the most obvious form of play occurred when DJ Amrit Sidhu and writer Anaa Saber took free reign of the Russian department store Aizel, reveling in the wide variety of high-end goods. The two took up matching, fur-lined coats in the stairwell, echoing memes of distraught widows who are surprised to learn their rich husband is dead. With so many options at their fingertips, fashion has never felt more free-for-all.

As we get deeper into fall, it may seem like the fashion world is driving back into hibernation, but Moscow’s emerging scene proves that there is plenty of activity on the other side of the globe, if you’re willing to look. It just may take a little game of hide-and-seek.