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Bloom Festival Bloom 2026 Bloom 2025 Bloom 2024 Open Call Contact

ANIMA — what cannot be seen, but can be felt

BLOOM Fashion Festival launches its open call for designers for the fifth edition, taking place September 4-6, 2026, at the Palace of Culture in Ploiești.

This year’s edition is built around the curatorial concept ANIMA — an exploration of the relationship between interiority, body, and form in contemporary fashion.

Within this framework, BLOOM becomes a space dedicated to fashion as inner expression, seeking collections that move beyond decorative aesthetics and establish an authentic connection between creation, identity, and emotion.

Fashion is approached as a living language — a medium through which the inner universe takes shape in form, texture, and movement. The runway becomes a narrative space, and the selected collections are seen as coherent works, not merely stylistic exercises.

The selection focuses on clear and self-assumed voices, capable of building a relevant, contemporary, and deeply expressive fashion discourse.

In this context, fashion is no longer an object. It becomes a form of translating what cannot be seen, but can be felt.


ABOUT THE OPEN CALL

We are looking for designers who do not create to illustrate, but to express. Collections that emerge from a genuine need for expression and construct a coherent dialogue between idea, form, and body.

At BLOOM, the runway becomes a performative space. Each appearance is conceived as a state, not simply a presentation.


WHO CAN APPLY

The open call is addressed to:

  • emerging designers
  • established designers
  • independent brands
  • artists working at the intersection of fashion and other disciplines (performative, visual, conceptual)

Applications proposing a clear, articulated, and coherent vision are strongly encouraged.


ACCEPTED COLLECTIONS

Eligible collections:

  • are built around a clear concept (idea, state, or narrative)
  • express a recognizable visual identity
  • use fashion as a means of artistic expression
  • demonstrate coherence between concept, design, and presentation
  • can be integrated into a performative format

Collections may include:

  • womenswear / menswear / genderless
  • couture or conceptual ready-to-wear
  • capsule collections or manifesto collections
  • experimental or interdisciplinary projects

SELECTION CRITERIA

The curatorial jury will evaluate:

  1. Conceptual coherence

    Clarity and depth of the proposed idea

  2. Emotional expressivity

    The ability of the collection to convey emotion and tension

  3. Originality of vision

    A personal discourse, distinct from commercial formulas

  4. Quality of design and execution

    Construction, materiality, and detail

  5. Relationship with the body and movement

    How the garments function in motion

  6. Artistic and contemporary relevance

    The ability to engage with the present without losing authenticity


CURATORIAL NOTE

BLOOM does not seek commercial perfection, but creative truth.

The selection focuses on authentic voices capable of constructing a coherent fashion language, where form is not the final goal, but the result of an inner intention.


WHAT BLOOM OFFERS

Selected designers will benefit from:

  • showcasing their collection within a performative format
  • integration into a unified artistic concept
  • models provided by Unique Models Agency, official BLOOM partner
  • production and creative direction
  • national and international visibility
  • exposure to a curated audience (industry, press, creatives)

APPLICATION

To apply, please submit:

  • portfolio (PDF or link)
  • brand / vision description
  • collection proposal for BLOOM 2026 (concept + visual references)

DEADLINE

JUNE 30 2026

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Places are limited.


ANIMA is about what cannot be seen, but can be felt