Russian Fashion Week opened in Moscow on Tuesday, with organisers promising the spring-summer 2009 collections would shine through the “gloomy” outlook of the global financial crisis.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana of Thailand has opened the week. She will also present her Women's Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Eastern Europe's most famous fashion event will run until November 4. 

More than 60 designers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Spain and Italy, including Custo Barcelona, Alessandro de Benedetti and Toni Francesc, will be sharing the catwalk at the Congress Hall of the Moscow's World Trade Center.

At least 10 new designers, among them Russians Oleg Biryukov, Lyudmila Mezentseva and Sabina Gorelik, will present their collections for the first time.

In her interview with RIA news agency designer Larisa Kalistratova described her collection as a mix of fashion styles from the 1970s and 2000s, with “bright colours and flying women silhouettes” aiming to offer hope for a happy future amid the current global financial crisis.

Meanwhile, Sergey Teplov, who also takes part in the show, says that despite the current crisis, his collection has “dusty black, blue and brown colors mixed with white,” adding that “dark colours are no reason to have a dark mind.”

Fashion grows as economy shrinks