The squeaky wheel
I'm referring of course to the conclusion of the spring/summer frock fest that is Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) and all that it entails.
If you formed an opinion of the Sydney-based event based solely on television media reports, you could be forgiven for thinking the five-day event is little more than an excuse to watch scowling skeletons stomp down catwalks and D-list celebrities discover their (in)famous roots.
But behind the scenes there is a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into not only staging such a high-profile venture but actually turning it into a commercial success.
And this year perhaps more than ever before, the management team of owners IMG have played their part in insuring those who have paid to take part have got bang for their buck.
It has yet to be seen whether IMG Asia Pacific managing director Simon Lock's mantra of the 2008 instalment being the "best yet" have actually converted into it being the most profitable for designers, early indications suggest he is may not be that far off the mark.
In recent years this column, fed largely by disgruntled exhibitors, has been quite open about what it saw as the areas of weakness in the staging of the trade-only event. And no where was this more evident than in the exhibition area Emerge @ The Source and its more luxurious equivalent Designer Suites where poor layout decisions forced most buyers to take a wide berth. In fact a few years ago brands were so fed up the sales manager of one apparel brand slated the exhibition area as "an embarassment". That was then and this is now however and this year my belief is that IMG got it spot on.
In parking the 20 or so exhibitors at the epicentre of the Overseas Passenger Terminal venue, exhibitors were presented with the opportunity to snag the attention of all attendees - either as they passed en route to one of the three runway collection rooms or waited in line to attend shows.
The true stroke of genius, however, came in positioning the sponsor's watering hole and buyers lounge right next to the area, ensuring the VIP buyers had little option but to walk through the entire exhibition area before getting their hands on a free glass of vino.
In keeping with the tales spruiked by the event's tireless PR team, the atmosphere in the exhibition area this year actually was animated, turning what could be a cold retail space into a loungeroom-type area where attendees actually wanted to spend time.
And while not all designers who invested in onsite boutique showrooms did a roaring trade, those that did can shift some of the credit to IMG which had the foresight to place the showrooms parallel to one of the two downstairs collection rooms. Far from being tucked away in an empty space, the rooms - and the designers who occupied them - had a real presence leading those who weren't part of the action wondering what they were missing out on.
With all this momentum it's safe to say the teething problems at The Source have all but been ironed out.
Now, if we could just get IMG to tease a smile out of the angry door bitch then we could all retire happy.
By Tracey Porter