Smoke and mirrors

I've always taken the adage that no publicity is bad publicity to mean that even embarrassing mishaps can be gold dust when it comes to the dark art of public relations. When, for example, fire engines appeared at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) during designer Tina Kalivas' show - (the culprit? A smoke machine) did disaster ensue? Of course not. Kalivas' brand was trumpeted all over the press. You couldn't have planned it better.
But the maxim can also be taken in another way. No publicity on the part of organiser IMG prior to RAFW - in other words no schedule as little as days before it kicked off - meant buyers had no idea who was showing and therefore scant incentive to attend; bad news for an event - this year realigned to target the trans-seasonal rather than autumn/winter market - that many believe is already struggling to hold its own against Sydney's bigger and better spring/summer equivalent.
Of course it wasn't all bad. The new venue at St Kilda Sea Baths proved a success, providing an off-season Riviera style backdrop for a week that was nothing if not relaxed. I personally had ample time between parades to file stories on the media lounge laptops and consume several helpings of lunch laid on by sea baths' in-house eatery Soul Mama.
The catwalk shows, such as they were, were spectacular. But, and there's no nice way of putting this, there simply weren't enough of them.
The week - in reality three days from September 4 to 6 - featured four "parades" a day, half the number expected of such a high profile industry event. One of these - Toni Maticevski's "New York Preview", featured a smattering of designs, while two others - Tina Kalivas and Gail Sorronda - took the form of installations.
In many respects IMG managing director Simon Lock and his colleagues did a valiant job, working with their hands tied behind their backs following the decision to bring RAFW forward from late October to September 4 to 6.
Lengthy due diligence delayed IMG's going public with the change, leaving designers little time to get their collections ready and resulting in the subsequent fall out; but exactly why IMG chose to cloak said fall out in resounding silence instead of managing their publicity more adeptly is a mystery.
Lock has not hidden the fact that the squeeze between releasing the new dates and getting the show off the grown was, as he puts it, an inevitable "bitter pill". But judging from disappointment levels as the event unfolded, perhaps coming clean about what attendees should expect and why would have been more astute.
As Lock is all too aware, there will always be detractors, however well-planned the event, but this year the complaints were well-founded.
Lock promises next year will be better. A further enhancement to the schedule will distance the event from New York Fashion week and hopefully eliminate the clash with trade fair Fashion Exposed, whose day time schedule this year (unlike the evening parades of Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week) collided uncomfortably with RAFW.
Moreover, measures to make attendance more cost-effective will provide an added incentive, he says.
With many of the buyers and participants I spoke to doubting they'd return to St Kilda next year, IMG needs all the incentives it can get. It could also take a long hard look at itself in the mirror, mindful of that other adage about the dangers of believing one's own publicity.

Tracey McEldowney is currently on leave.