site.btaTop Young Designers Awarded at IDEA MODA 2025 Fashion Finale

Twelve young fashion designers who made it to the finals of the IDEA MODA 2025 competition, presented their original collections at a show earlier this week at the Toplocentrala Regional Center for Contemporary Arts in Sofia. The competition was organized by New Bulgarian University (NBU). 

For the fifth consecutive year, IDEA MODA provided a platform for emerging designers from Bulgaria and abroad to showcase their work to a broad audience, including media representatives and members of the fashion community. 

The international jury included established professionals such as Yasharie Dogan, designer and founder of Bursa Fashion Week; Dilusha Rajapakse, research tutor at the Royal College of Arts in London; Zlatimir Arakliev, a renowned fashion photographer featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, EVA and others; Nikolay Pachev, fashion visionary, international fashion designer, stylist and educator; Nikolay Bozhilov, a visionary fashion designer and creative director; Neli Miteva, fashion designer and artistic director of the “Ivan Asen 22” foundation; Milko Boyarov, jewelry and product designer based in Lisbon.

The winner of IDEA MODA 2025 was Anastasiya Dicheva for her collection Semiotics of the Spirit. She received a BGN 5,000 cash prize and a professional sewing machine. Her work features a striking combination of metal, mirror-like silver foil, netting, stones, layered textures, flour techniques, and wool. 

The second place went to to Mariam Alasaad for her collection Koffrajj, which explores the links and influences between fashion and architecture, applied to traditional Syrian men’s garments. The award secured enrollment in a Master’s program at NBU. The collection also featured an accessory containing water, created by fashion stylist Veneta Litkova.

Zornitsa Bulkina received the third prize, BGN 3,000 and an internship at ALL-U-RE concept store, for her collection Fragments of Freedom, which captures Bulgaria’s creative resurgence after the fall of communism, re-imagining the 1990s through retro silhouettes and deconstructed forms.

Organized by NBU in partnership with the conceptual designer’s platform and foundation “Ivan Asen 22”, the competition involves faculty and students from the university’s fashion, visual arts, and web design programs. It is curated by Ass. Prof. Dr. Yana Dvoretska, Eng. Tatyana Pencheva and Nikolay Pachev, PhD.