Lack of Funds Delays Annual Romanian Fashion Week

Doru Mocanu,

IaŞi

The 2009 Edition of the Romanian Fashion Week has been postponed for the Spring of 2010 because of the lack of funds for staging the event, the organizers announced. "We have decided to make this change because we only want the event to take place at the standards we set in the previous years. The Romanian Fashion Week is not just another fashion event, but a proven example of professionalism. The organization of a single edition requires a team of over 150 specialists and a budget between 200,000 and 250,000 EUR, primarily for the requirements of the stage and the Debut section for the young Romanian designers," reads a press release from the organizers.

"Despite all economic difficulties intrinsic to this time, we are happy to see that our traditional partners have decided to stay with us. However, budget cuts prompted by the global economic crisis have made it nearly impossible to cover all the costs related to this event. Under these circumstances we turned for support to both the Mayor of Iasi, Gheorghe Nichita, and the Ministry of Economy. Although the Romanian Fashion Week is the driver of an industry that provides tens of thousands of jobs and a major support factor to Romanian exports, the Ministry of Economy decided not to support it. We received the same answer from the Mayor of Iasi, who told us that the event could not be supported from the local budget, because we have always managed on our own," said fashion designer Irina Schrotter, the initiator of the event.