IMG Fashion has spoken out since announcing new dates for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia 2013, revealing the process behind its decision.
IMG Fashion global production director Jarrad Clark said the firm did not realise it would clash with the organisers of L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) in selecting the final week of March.
"It was certainly not our intention, we didn't even believe the festival would push their dates further back into March," he told ragtrader.com.au in an exclusive interview.
"So it came as a surprise, when those dates came up on their website, which is around the same day we were going out to market with our announcement."
Clark said the firm held off on announcing the dates until he had spoken with LMFF chief executive Graeme Lewsey.
"He was as concerned that we were going to be overlapping as we were. Obviously we want to be able to work together to find a solution.
"If that means them moving forward slightly, that would be ideal as it marries what the event is about which is hitting retail when stock is going into stores at full price."
Clark revealed traditional dates for the trade event, which has run in late April/May, had been selected to allow designers to source fabrics from Premiere Vision.
"Now as I understand, there are only one or two designers that are still utilising Premiere Vision as a sourcing mechanism for their new season fabrics because they are so readily available from other sources now.
"Designers and buyers we spoke to urged us to move the event to March for production and delivery."
Australian fashion designer Toni Maticevski, who had a strong presence at both events this year, was reluctant to reveal his plans for next year, with uncertainty whether LMFF will revisit its dates.
"It will be an interesting decision. I will have to go with what has the best outcome for my business in the end."
Meanwhile Akira Isogawa, Jayson Brunsdon and Camilla Franks were among designers to reveal the new dates would assist in production and sales demands.
"Moving...from May to March means we can present the new collection to Australian buyers and media directly after we've shown it at Paris Fashion week," Isogawa said.
"Moving the date allows more time to prepare resort because ideally we prefer to show this collection in early June."
Meanwhile Brunsdon revealed the timing pressures behind the traditional April/May dates.
"The current dates create major problems for production," he said.
"A three month period is required to receive fabric deliveries, produce the garments and deliver to stores. Consequently with the event currently being held in early May it only leaves two months until July deliveries.
"[This] creates many problems especially as many of the designers showing are small businesses and depend upon national department stores to sustain their growth."
LMFF organisers were not reachable at the time of press, with the organisation on a planning session to work through a solution in consultation with stakeholders.
For more on the date changes, including other designer perspectives and a roundtable with sales agents, look out for Ragtrader's June edition.