Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan joined the European Fashion Council in 2025.
President EFC Kazakhstan
Aidarkhan Kaliyev
Aspara Fashion Week
facebook.com/asparafashionweek
Aidarkhan Kaliyev is an internationally recognized fashion visionary, cultural ambassador, and creative leader dedicated to promoting heritage, craftsmanship, and innovation through fashion. As President of Aspara Fashion Week, he has played a significant role in connecting traditional culture with contemporary design, creating opportunities for emerging and established designers to present their work on the global stage.
With a strong commitment to preserving cultural identity through the creative industries, Kaliyev actively promotes artisan craftsmanship, textile heritage, and intercultural dialogue. His work bridges fashion, art, and diplomacy, positioning fashion as a powerful instrument for international collaboration and cultural exchange.
Throughout his career, Aidarkhan Kaliyev has initiated and supported numerous international projects that unite designers, artists, institutions, and creative communities across borders. Through strategic partnerships and global collaborations, he continues to strengthen connections between Europe, Central Asia, and the wider international fashion ecosystem.
As a visionary advocate for sustainable cultural development, Kaliyev believes that fashion is more than aesthetics — it is a language of identity, heritage, and peace. His leadership within Aspara Fashion Week has contributed to expanding the visibility of traditional crafts while encouraging innovation and contemporary creativity within the global fashion industry.
Through his ongoing work with international fashion platforms and cultural initiatives, Aidarkhan Kaliyev continues to inspire a new generation of creatives while advancing the role of fashion as a bridge between cultures, traditions, and future generations.
About Kazakhstan
Ethnic Kazakhs derive from a mix of Turkic nomadic tribes that migrated to the region in the 15th century. The Russian Empire conquered the Kazakh steppe in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1925. Forced agricultural collectivization led to repression and starvation, resulting in more than a million deaths in the early 1930s. During the 1950s and 1960s, the agricultural “Virgin Lands” program generated an influx of settlers — mostly ethnic Russians, but also other nationalities — and by the time of Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991, ethnic Kazakhs were a minority. However, non-Muslim ethnic minorities departed Kazakhstan in large numbers from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s, and a national program has repatriated about a million ethnic Kazakhs (from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, and the Xinjiang region of China) to Kazakhstan. As a result of this shift, the ethnic Kazakh share of the population now exceeds two-thirds.
Kazakhstan’s economy is the largest in Central Asia, mainly due to the country’s vast natural resources. Current issues include diversifying the economy, attracting foreign direct investment, enhancing Kazakhstan’s economic competitiveness, and strengthening economic relations with neighboring states and foreign powers.