For the second consecutive year, Asad Sattar, founder and creative director of Arka Fashion Week, represented Bangladesh at BRICS+ Fashion Summit in Moscow, Russia, held from September 28 to 30, 2026. He spoke at the Summit’s plenary session on the role of fashion in shaping culture, and on fashion as a tool for soft power. In his session, Asad discussed how Bangladesh, known internationally for its garment manufacturing, can use fashion to carry its culture, crafts and stories to audiences abroad.
He talks not only about the pull soft power has, but also explains how fashion can often be an entry point into art for many people. “Fashion is a getaway art. It’s the front door – for most people, their first art form, because not everyone can paint or play an instrument, but everyone gets dressed in the morning.” Arka Fashion plays a key role in the growth of an ecosystem amenable to creativity and innovation in fashion. This is a boon for Bangladesh, which has a history of being providers of ready made garments, but not leaders in design. Sattar explains, “For forty years Bangladesh has been ‘Made in Bangladesh’ – we make what the world designs.‘Designed in Bangladesh’ is a different proposition entirely: a garment carries a price, but a design carries a point of view. And a point of view travels further than any trade delegation.”
This philosophy is embedded in the very name of “Arka”, which translates to the sun. Connecting this to the notion of soft power, Sattar mentions his belief that it is necessary to emulate the sun and not a spotlight, with the latter shining a light on one person, and the former rising every day. To attain soft power, Sattar says it’s necessary to “build a sun”.
Arka Fashion Week returns December 4–6, 2026, at Aloki, Dhaka. This edition explores Arka’s growing collaborations with international fashion platforms associated with BRICS+.
