What It’s Like At Fashion Week in Kazakhstan

Ryan Koopmans is one of our most trusted sidekicks photographers during NYFW. So, recently, when he had the opportunity to train his lens on Kazakhstan — during the Mercedes-Benz-sponsored Almaty Fashion Week — we jumped at the chance to see the Central Asian style scene through his eyes.

We were particularly interested since Kazkhstan has recently undergone an economic boom, and the designer-goods market that's sprung up as a result has fueled an emerging creative class, including a new set of very young designers.

Ahead, Koopmans' dispatch of his week spent in Almaty, which reveals a beautiful combination of old and new, familiar and foreign, and local and global flavors. You might not catch any glimpses of Wintour or Kloss here, but the alternative is just as stunning.