Institution: Galib Gassanoff's Fashion Project Preserves Caucasus Crafts

Galib Gassanoff, founder of the Milan-based fashion and socio-artistic project Institution, works with artisans across Georgia and Azerbaijan to preserve endangered craft traditions through clothing and cultural exchange. Born in Georgia and raised in an Azerbaijani community, Gassanoff's early fascination with ethnography and cultural research underpins the project, which he founded in 2024 after leaving the Italian label Act No1, a 2024 LVMH Prize semi-finalist he co-founded with Luca Lin. Institution's collections begin in villages where declining techniques like carpet weaving, hand-dyeing, and textile creation are passed down by only a few women. Garments include full skirts of bulrush woven like baskets, hand-stitched shoelaces mimicking chunky knits, and double-faced wool sculpted into architectural outerwear, with exaggerated shoulders and hips inspired by Soviet-era sculptures. Rather than following seasonal cycles, pieces are designed to accumulate over time. Gassanoff presents collections during fashion weeks in Copenhagen and Milan to bring endangered crafts into international conversation; after showcasing woven pieces on the runway, the generated funding helped artisans open a weaving studio in their village. Institution is available at Dover Street Market Paris, New York, and Los Angeles, Printemps Paris, and other retailers worldwide.