PERTH: Dates for the inaugural 2011 Perth Fashion Week (PFW) have been announced for May 25-29.
The five-day event will be held at the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre and invites buyers Australia-wide to preview Spring/Summer 2011 and 2012 collections in an aim to raise awareness of Western Australian designers and assist them in finding stockists.
During PFW, the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre will be transformed into a Fashion Theatre where catwalk shows will showcase upcoming collections from WA designers. Designers will also be able to house and display their collections in specially-created Designer Showrooms and a Fashion Lounge, including the Fashion bar, will be available for designers and buyers to mingle, meet and do business.
Although a small allocation of tickets for collection shows will be made available to the public, PFW director, local stylist and Fashion Voyeur editor Sylvia Giacci said the event was primarily a trade event, created to lift the profiles of WA designers and enhance much needed sales in the field, which had been considerably lagging.
“Perth Fashion Week is about providing the resources and support necessary to ensure that designers are able to find stockists and gain recognition on a local, and especially a national level”, Giacci said. “It [PFW] differs from other Perth fashion events in that it will be working to creating profile for our designers within the fashion industry, rather than at a consumer level.”
Designers, including Wayne Cooper and Ael’kemi designer Alvin Fernandez, have welcomed the announcement of Perth Fashion Week saying an event aimed at a trade level was what was missing in the WA fashion industry.
“Perth Fashion Week is about ensuring WA’s fashion talent get the chance to forge working relationships with stockists and buyers,” Cooper said. “These types of trade events always work well and are necessary, as proved by the eastern states and the success of their fashion.”
PFW will culminate in a black-tie Fashion Voyeur Ball on Sunday May 29, sponsored by Fashion Voyeur Magazine.