Dubai: Fashion Week’s autumn-winter 2012 runway shows, slated to run from April 7-12, were this week dropped due to lack of funds, said its event director Rohit Sabikhi.

“Fashion shows all over the world are an expensive proposition. This season, funds needed to be generated and certain things took longer than anticipated,” Sabikhi told Gulf News on Thursday. The bi-annual fashion event has been running in Dubai since 2006.

As many as 30 shows featuring 40 designers were expected to participate in the showcase next month. Sabikhi attributed the change to a “bleak sponsorship scenario” combined with a “lack of support from various bodies.”

“Rather than a cancellation, I would call this a postponement. For the last three seasons, Manoj Bhojwani of Capital Marketing [DFW owners] has been single-handedly investing a lot of money into it. But the recession, the lack of sponsorship deals on the marketing front and lack of assistance from various stakeholders have led to this not-so-ideal scenario,” said Sabikhi. In May 2010, Dubai-based media company Capital Marketing purchased the operating rights to Dubai Fashion Week from Concept Group.

“But we are in fruitful talks with the government and various other supporting groups now. We want to provide a good platform for designers and buyers,” said Sabikhi.

Designers and modelling agencies and other companies involved in the April fashion showcase received an e-mail on Wednesday from by Simon P Lock, Creative Director of DFW informing them of the changes.

“I want to personally assure this decision was not taken lightly by the DFW management. In the end we just weren’t prepared to present an event that wasn’t the best we could possible make it,” said Lock in the e-mail, adding that new dates for the event were being worked on. .

In 2011, Lock was brought on board at DFW -- which has seen several leadership changes since its inception in 2006 -- to breathe new life into the fashion week.
In cancelling the event, Lock also cited difficulties in finalising support on time.

“Last season the event was presented under the Patronage of the Government and we have been in fruitful discussion with them about their long-term support for the event. Unfortunately this planning process has taken longer than we would have hoped and without it being finalised we are not in a position to be able to fully underwrite the event through designer and commercial sponsor participation,” stated the e-mail.

Companies involved in the event, including designers and modelling agencies, were “shocked” but pragmatic about the cancellation.

“I was shocked to hear about it and I feel sad that an event that put Dubai on the fashion front has been postponed,” said Furne One, a designer and DFW regular. The Filipino had begun work two months ago on the collection he was due to present at DFW.

“Fortunately, my efforts won’t go waste because I will showcase the same collection soon at Australia Fashion Week,” he said. “On one hand I feel bad that I won’t be able to show but on the other hand, maybe it’s a good thing. The organisers may be thinking ‘why put up a show, if it’s going to be bad one’,” added One.

Boutique owner Rohini Gehani, who was planning to bring celebrated Indian couture designer J J Valaya to DFW’s runways, said the cancellation was a surprise.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect them to cancel it but when I spoke to the organisers they said they it was taking longer than expected to get patronage, finance and corporate support. They want to come bigger and larger the next season – which is not a bad thing,” said Gehani, owner of Rivaage.

Model agencies – after a fruitful DFW casting on March 14 – are now in the process of informing models about the changes.

“It was a pretty big surprise. Since Simon Lock came on as the creative director, we had big expectations from Dubai Fashion Week. He is doing a good job so I am really taken aback by the cancellation,” said Georgia Wills, Division Manager of HME Models. She received the e-mail quoted above in response to a query about whether DFW would require European models for the April shows.

Last September, Lock took up the DFW mantle amidst much fanfare and unveiled grand plans for reviving the local fashion showcase, which in past seasons has been criticised as a social event rather than a serious trade event. “I am aware that Dubai Fashion Week — up till this point — has been fairly disappointing. And the new owners sort of recognised that and believed that they need to bring in people who have experience in establishing fashion weeks. That’s where I come in,” said Lock in an interview with Gulf News in September 2011.