Paris fashion week
Chosen once again by the organizers of Paris Fashion Week, Iuliia Bazhan, Miss New York 2025 and international fashion model, returned to Paris as a familiar favorite and the face trusted to open Anaya’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection. Images of this opening walk appeared in multiple global outlets, among them Harper’s Bazaar, Madame Figaro and L’Officiel.
Her sculpted blush-nude gown became the signature of the event and a look that would soon make an unexpected journey from the Paris runway to a Hollywood red carpet.
Chosen by Naomi Campbell’s Stylist
Among the guests at this show was Ugo Mozie, one of the most influential stylists of our time. Nigerian-born and Los Angeles–based, his client list spans Naomi Campbell, Diana Ross, Celine Dion, Stevie Wonder, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, Wizkid, and Beyoncé, and he was recently profiled after walking the runway himself for Hugo Boss in Milan.
Shortly after the Paris show, Chathu Samarajeewa reposted Mozie’s own words about what happened at Hôtel Le Marois. He told that when the first model – Miss New York in that gown walking out, he immediately knew this was the look he had been searching for for actress Megalyn Echikunwoke and her upcoming film premiere Stuck.
“When the first model – Miss New York in the Balearic Dreaming gown – walked out, I knew instantly this was the look I’d been searching for. It embodied light, power, ancestral magic and mystique… ethereal yet strong, cinematic yet spiritual.”
After the show, Mozie personally went backstage to secure the dress straight off the runway. The gown was shipped and arrived in Los Angeles just in time for Echikunwoke’s premiere — turning Iuliia Bazhan’s runway look into a red-carpet moment for a Hollywood lead.
For a model, there is rarely stronger validation — when one of fashion’s top stylists selects your runway look for his next major client, it signals that your presence resonates on a global level.
The Story of Anaya Collection
Founded in 2012 by Chathuri Samaraweera, this brand has become one of Dubai’s most internationally recognized couture houses with headquartered in Dubai Design District.
Over the past decade, the couture house pieces have been worn by celebrities and public figures across red carpets in Cannes, Venice, Dubai, and Los Angeles, and featured in leading international publications such as British Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Grazia, and L’Officiel.
Under Samaraweera’s direction, the brand has evolved from a regional favorite into a global couture name. Her designs—often described as “liquid sculpture”—have been showcased at Paris Fashion Week, Dubai Fashion Week, and in ME Dubai’s long-running exhibition space, where the house’s “Balearic Dreaming” visuals remain on display as an immersive art installation.
For a model, being chosen to open an Anaya show means stepping into the spotlight of a fashion house already speaking the language of the global red carpet. And for Miss New York 2025 Iuliia Bazhan, that moment connected three worlds — Paris, Dubai, and Hollywood — in one unforgettable story.
Follow @bazhan_ulia to discover her latest campaigns and runway moments.
Behind the vision:
A dream team united for Paris Fashion Week 2026-from the lens to the runway.
Photographed by Amiko Beridze (@green.graphy),Alisa (@alisa_photo.de),Karyna (@karyna.av) and Kristina Yashina (@kristinayashina_).
Makeup and hair artistry by Victoria (@missvi.mua), Irina Djos (@djos.irina_mua), Favor Skaya (@makeup_favorskaya).
Creative production by Paris Fashion Air (@parisfashionair) and Ruslan Ev (@ruslanev_).
Fashion direction by Valentina Varnavskaya (@valentina.varnavskaya).
Casting by @twinnpix.
Featuring the couture masterpieces of Anaya Collection (@anayacollection)-a Dubai-based luxury maison founded by Creative Director Chathu Samarajeewa (@chathuxanaya) and represented by Head of Marketing Ethan Mesiona Cortezano (@itsmeethanofficial),whose visionary approach bridges fashion, culture, and storytelling across continents.
