Simon Machabeli Liberté: Costumes in Exile

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi presents Simon Machabeli’s exhibition “Liberté: Costumes in Exile”  on May 10 

Simon Machabeli is a Georgian artist whose multidisciplinary practice brings together theatre, film, and fashion. Educated at the Apolon Kutateladze Tbilisi State Academy of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, and Central Saint Martins (MA Womenswear, 2008), he has developed a diverse career across these fields.

Rooted in Georgian culture and folklore, his recent work moves beyond seasonal fashion into highly personal, research-driven exhibitions defined by craft and meaning.

His exhibition “Liberté: Costumes in Exile” explores what happens when costume leaves the stage and gains a new life. No longer tied to performance, garments become autonomous objects—silent witnesses between fashion and art. Treated as displaced and suspended forms, they reflect a state where performance ends but meaning persists, remaining as fragments of identity that question visibility, absence, and relevance.