Several emerging designers contacted Ragtrader following the trade event earlier this month, revealing they had either been knocked back or decided not to pursue alcohol sponsors for their shows due to existing agreements between organiser IMG Asia Pacific and wine brand Rosemount.
The five-year agreement with the Foster’s-owned brand, which concluded at the recent spring/summer instalment, meant it was granted protection across core beverage categories including wine, beer, spirits and sparklers. According to IMG Fashion Asia Pacific general manager Daniel Hill, designers could still submit requests for beverage sponsors outside the Foster’s stable.
“What is comes down to first and foremost is to protect our naming rights sponsor,” Hill said. “Hundreds of designers and PR representatives ask the question each year, about whether they can obtain certain sponsors for their shows. If there is a grey area, for instance with a different alcohol brand, we will pass that on to Foster’s and they have the final sign off. All of our material with designers states that we will always protect our sponsors first and foremost, because they have purchased certain rights for the event.”
However, calls to Ragtrader revealed that while some labels had been prevented from securing alcohol brands for their shows, esteemed designer Josh Goot was able to secure three such partners for his spring/summer evening parade on May 5. These included beer brand Peroni, champagne stalwart Moet & Chandon and premium spirit Belvedere vodka, which was also cleared to support a showcase by womenswear designer brand Ellery. Hill claimed the decision to approve both requests did not reflect favouritism to more established labels.
“Josh Goot asked the question and, at this stage Foster’s is focused on the wine category, so they were comfortable with the request and gave it the final sign off,” he said. “We encourage all designers to submit their material, to ask us the question and we are happy to help them in any way we can. I would 100 per cent dispute that we flatly knocked back other requests. The same rules apply for everyone.”
Sydney-based agency EVHPR, which represents both Josh Goot and Ellery, confirmed it had little difficulty in securing premium sponsors for both shows. EVHPR agent Matt Vines said he was responsible for attracting the three brands to Goot, with the final sign off conducted between Goot’s show producers The Artist Group and IMG Fashion Asia Pacific. In addition to sponsoring his parade, Belvedere also provided merchandise for selected guests as well as an after-party within the show venue. Belvedere representative Katharine Sachs confirmed it was a seamless partnership.
“The Belvedere and Josh Goot and Ellery collaborations mark an exciting step in the premium vodka brand’s communication platform to integrate fashion and music with the world of luxury vodka,” she said. “The collaboration between Belvedere and the two brands has been a success so far, and there are hopes to continue to pursue the alignment.”
Hill claimed this was not the first time IMG Fashion Asia Pacific was able to provide flexibility with show sponsors, citing that Alex Perry was able to secure a logistics partner outside official sponsor DHL.
“We can’t approve all things but there is flexibility when we put it before our stakeholders,” he said. “If it wasn’t for our sponsors, we wouldn’t be able to provide the [competitive] rates we do for show venues and productions.”
Hill said with the conclusion of Rosemount’s five-year agreement this year, a new naming rights sponsor should be confirmed in coming weeks.
Assia Benmedjdoub