By Eve Matheson
Fashion Week invades new cities and proves that even a slow economy can’t stop the power of creative designers
Only the
Survives
The worldwide buzz around fashion week for the spring/summer 2010 collections was stronger than ever despite current economic conditions and the less-than- stellar predictions. London pulled out all the stops and champagne flowed wickedly for the 25th anniversary of
this event. I couldn’t help recalling Oscar Wilde’s memorable quote,
“The only consolation for not having money is extravagance.”
In actual fact, however, the parties and celebrations were not
the focus. The true genius and creativity of the designers and fash-
ion houses were the talk of the town. It was as if the economy and
ensuing emotions had been a true inspiration for their talent. If
some productions were a little subdued, there was no downsizing
or compromise of the fashions showcased on the runways.
As fashion week spread across the globe several readers asked: Q. What is fashion week and when and where does it take place?
A. Fashion week is a fashion industry event during which designers showcase their newest creations. It is also an incredible opportunity for new models to walk the runways alongside supermodels and to be seen by editors and photographers looking for the hottest new faces for their magazines. Buyers from all over the world take front row seats to study and order the latest trends. Traffic jams, late starts, tired feet, hunger pangs, frenzied paparazzi, frayed nerves, flaming tantrums, slighted egos, and a “Wouldn’t miss this for the world” mentality are all part of the scene.
New York, London, Milan and Paris are the major players in the arena. In these and many other cities fashion week is a semiannual event with autumn/winter collections shown January through March and spring/summer collections in September and October. This event is no longer the privilege of the rich and famous, nor the high profile cities. There are about 100 fashion week events around the world including large cities unknown until now
FASHION FLORA: Model Heather Flora takes the runway by storm, wearing a design from Bambina by NV.
for their fashion impact, and small cities that have followed suit to the delight of the many fashionistas living there, and because of the forward thinking of fashion conscious business owners.
The Province of Alberta in Canada held its first fashion week
in Calgary in October amidst a storm of negative vibes. It was a re-
sounding success. One of the pioneers of the event— model, scout
and writer Melissa Wusaty— told me: “Alberta fashion week was
amazing. It surprised the critics to say the least. It was years in the
making. I am so happy that Alberta finally has something that is
positive, well-organized, and has the ability to compete with
Canada’s other fashion weeks. It also gave our local models a
chance to walk a runway and get some experience. Alberta is now
in the throes of preparations for its fall/winter showcase scheduled
for April 2010.”
Here in Tampa, Florida, where I live, Tampa Bay Fashion
Week (TBFW) proved it is here to stay. A mere idea in the hands
of a group of young fashion-minded business professionals a cou-
ple of years ago, it debuted the following year and made a power-
ful statement with its spring/summer 2010 showcase. Given the
shambolic state of some of these events in the mega fashion cap-
itals, TBFW was well-organized, mercifully calm and in keeping
with global mandatory dictates, fashionably late. It had great in-
ternational flare.
References:
Archives