Designers have embraced a new autumn/winter 2010 marketing platform launched by the organisers of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), despite it kicking off at the tail end of the selling season.
IMG Fashion Asia Pacific released its inaugural autumn/winter collections schedule earlier this month, a listing which allows brands to advertise wholesale showings to buyers and media.
The schedule went live on RAFW’s website on October 1 and was promoted through a targeted IMG Fashion e-newsletter on October 13.
However, a substantial number of designers had already commenced showings by the time of its release, with many starting as early as September. Fashion media favourite Arnsdorf, a contemporary womenswear label based in Melbourne, began wholesale showings on September 21 and concluded on October 9.
Adelaide show dates for ready-to-wear label Nicholangela were September 28 – 30, closing a day before the listing was scheduled to go live.
Similarly, collection show dates for high-profile designer Kirrily Johnston were listed as taking place from September 28 to 30 in Sydney; October 1 to 2 in Brisbane; and October 6 to 7 in Perth.
Over half of Johnston’s shows had concluded by the time of IMG’s e-newsletter release, with its Sydney instalment missing out on any timely coverage altogether.
An IMG Fashion Asia Pacific representative said designers were invited to list dates on the RAFW website, with no charges incurred for brands which took part in its spring/summer 2009/10 runway event.
“Not all of them do [list] and some of them have already started showing their collections by the time they provide the details. This listing is simply an additional resource to facilitate the industry.”
Other brands featured on the schedule for autumn/winter 2010 include Injury, Eduardo Calucag, Gail Sorronda, Marnie Skillings, Nicola Finetti and Saint Augustine Academy.
As reported in previous editions of Ragtrader, the autumn/winter schedule format was launched after several unsuccessful bids to cement a runway event for the season in Australia. A transeasonal collections event was also launched for the 2008 trading year but was shelved due to a lack of industry interest.
Assia Benmedjdoub