¡Salud! ...says the monkey in the suit.
THE ORGANIZING TEAM
It is perceived that the organizers were doing this for the sake of portfolio prestige. Some of them really knew that a fashion show is all about business connections - but has none whatsoever skills of delivering a winning event of such.
Concept Events, a division of Concept Group, were the mastermind of this event. They are composed of irrelevant imported personalities and an in-house team of undesirable characters. The bratinellas of Concept Events' Ivory Tower and few irrelevant party friends who are close to Aldrin. Yeah, party on!!!
Dubai Fashion Week is one of my many questions and was the result of my departure from Concept Group is their dim vision of delivering this event...
I have foreseen its failure... the plans they insisted to execute is designed to be failed. In our industry, we are always in pursuit of covering our asses or simply be fool proof in our dealings with people surrounding us in a situation. Account management is all about delivering effective and flawless delivery... this, they don't know...
What do they know? Concept's client handling trend is about grabbing the bag of money and with not-so-witty deliverables. That's how f-ups happen!
Many sponsors were lured to support this event failure... Thanks to the guys who wear the shiny designer suits with empty heads and the sophisticated flower vased muse...
TREATMENT OF MEDIA AND BEYOND MEDIA RELATIONSHIP
Shamefully speaking, I was one of the many PR underlings commanded by the ever-great PR conman Naveed Pirzada to beg, pressure and please media people to attend the show... Sad part, we have nothing great to offer to media people who were supporting us (thank you media friends!)... Concept's internal greed disabled the great potential of this event... No tokens of appreciation were made, no funding to assist media people's convenience like transport, no proper media lounge for them to have access to internet and other field work concerns.
All we had there were crappy PRESS KITS to go and few enforced INSERTS from SPONSORS. Desperate, huh?
Prior to the event, I also discussed about bringing people from international media like Conde Nast or Hearst. People in the likeness of Anna Wintour of Vogue or Kate White of Cosmopolitan. It really sounded to be too ambitions but certainly a very harmless attempt... It's worth a shot... After all, the event is a unique one. Why not? That's how PR works? Right? The ability to influence.
Can we fund such people for airfare, hotels and other essentials? Why not? Fly them in, make them witness, fly them back as quick as possible... and give them a great field work experience...
After all, the Concept Events people bagged a lot of sponsorship cash. Unfortunately, the brilliant idea came from a small voice... too small to be heard... too small because of my minority status... Minority probably reads: low-ranked subordinate and probably my racial status... I am just the few hired 3rd world useful aliens who do not share any common heritage of the Concept Group's populace... we all know it's a populist company.
SPONSORS RIPPED OFF
A lot of sponsors were snared from the uniqueness of DFW, a lot of them failed miserably and just took it as a learning experience.
Concept Events just took anybody on board who has the immediate cash. Some sponsors can be identified who are trying to fit in... Big-named sponsors got in unaware about the schematics and plans of their areas.
The only benefit they had on this event was the Media Mileage... what a great waste of marketing money! They have their own PR companies who can independently spot a better opportunity for their money.
Have you seen how crappy the exhibition spaces? Too limited?
Abracadabra! Money speaks louder in this case...
TALENT SOURCING, CLIENT SOURCING
It requires great amounts of cash for a designer to join the event... Some of the designers were sourced from immediate circles of Aldrin... hopefully for the right reasons... Some were really exceptionally talented, hats off to their fashion mastery and humble characters.
The roster of buyers seems not to be in the right place or perhaps misguided, misinformed? These buyers are not as informed as they should be, who are the designers they would likely face? Some buying reps probably felt bad for the wasted company money for not getting something back to their "atelier."
Were the designers briefed about the set of buyers who will come?
Nothing wrong with these designers and buyers... boasting that DFW is the premier event in the Middle East, how come they missed to scour other parts of region to join them? The dreadful short-sighted organizers failed to aim higher!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Dubai Fashion Week was nothing but:
1. An elaborate way of ripping sponsors
2. Misguidance of buyers and designers
3. Cheap trick showmanship
4. A convention of Aldrin "The Gigolo" Fernandes and his conceited boy band mates prying on scantily clad models...
One thing, it is noticeable that DFW has no consistent identity, they keep on repackaging from time to time... They have no ideas about branding and guidelines... in additional to their F'd up works...
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