THE fashion capital of Scotland has just got a little less fashionable. Glasgow's Fashion Week, once billed as Scotland's biggest annual couture event, has collapsed, leaving designers out of pocket and prompting accusations from within the industry that it is "embarrassing" and "thrown together".
The four-day extravaganza, which would have been in its third year and described itself as the "official" international fashion week in Scotland, was due to start next week and was expected to showcase 30 Scottish fashion designers in a range of catw
alk shows.
Organisers blamed the demise of the Glasgow arts centre, The Lighthouse, which was to have hosted the event, leaving it without a venue.
But rival fashion event supremos claimed it failed because the organisers lacked experience in bringing together a high-class programme.
Tessa Hartmann, founder of the well-respected Scottish Fashion Awards, which take place each June at Stirling Castle, said: "I think it's very naive of people to think they can instigate a fashion week at a low level and for it to work.
"The concept of giving young designers a platform is a great idea, but I think that where it fell down was to try and call it a Glasgow Fashion Week, because it's simply not going to compete at an international level.
"If it doesn't work it becomes almost a bit embarrassing, and does more damage to us as a nation than it does good work."
Another fashion industry insider was equally scathing. "It's just thrown together. People within the fashion community don't want anything to do with it. It's not taken seriously and it's not on anyone's radar at all."
Glasgow Fashion Week was founded in 2007 by Nigerian entrepreneur and technology consultant Yemi Adegite. The event is understood to be funded by Adegite and by Jacqueline Adholla, who took over as event director this year.
In 2008, 16 catwalk shows were held as well as two fashion-related seminars in the Merchant City's Winchester Club and Arta venue. At the time, Adegite said he was is in negotiations with major international sponsors for the coming years.
"Scotland can definitely support an event like this. Glasgow in particular is one of the top destinations in the world, with the second highest fashion retail after London," he said.
Adegite was unavailable last week for comment, but Adholla, who is based in London, defended the event.
"Glasgow Fashion Week was set up because Glasgow is a very stylish, creative, fashion-forward capital in the north of the UK. Glasgow is a central hub for fashion and there is a lot of talent within Glasgow, so the week itself is so designers don't necessarily have to go all the way to London for the promotion they deserve," Adholla said.
"It was a very difficult decision to cancel because 90 per cent of things had been finalised. But we had to do so because there was no other venue that was able to contain the amount of designers involved, as well as the exhibitions and catwalk shows."
Adholla insisted that the event would be held again next year. She claimed: "We would (like to] raise it up so it stands shoulder to shoulder with an international fashion week."
The collapse of this year's event left designers who had put together collections for the show out of pocket.
Rebecca Anderson, a couture milliner whose Grangemouth-based company Tantrums & Tiaras was scheduled to exhibit said: "It's cost me enough that I can feel a sting. I only work for myself, I work from home and I'm also trying to pay for exhibiting at wedding shows and exhibitions.
"The pieces I make for Fashion Week are not pieces I'll ever use again, so ordering stock that I needed to make up items and then making the pieces I was going to exhibit has left a dent."
Anderson said she was concerned as to why no alternative venue had been found after the Lighthouse went into administration. "If it was well supported in Scotland and there were people who could see a value in it, they should have been able to find another venue. If it was London Fashion Week another venue would have been found immediately."
Although both VisitScotland and Edinburgh's Hotel Missoni are listed on the Fashion Week's website under the heading 'sponsors and partners', both said their involvement with the 2009 event was minimal.
"All we have done is to support the event in kind," said a VisitScotland spokesperson. "We were happy to mention it in the e-zines we produce in our Glasgow office but we've not given any funding."
The event has had a chequered history. During its first year in 2007, Glasgow Fashion Week made a loss of more than £60,000.
At the time, one Glasgow model agency claimed it was owed several thousand pounds for months by the event's organisers.
A former employee, who worked on Glasgow Fashion Week in 2008, said: "The issue was that there was a real lack of organisation. There were also issues with payment. There was no collateral in place to ensure the PR and marketing side was done professionally. There was no strategy in place which was absolutely key. It was a total nightmare."
Hartmann agreed. "I really don't think it ever was a Glasgow Fashion Week. It was an exercise to put on a few shows and make some money. That's not really what fashion weeks are all about."
... but city still puts on a show for most stylish ScotsTWO up-and-coming actors, Louise Linton and Richard Madden, walked off with top honours at the annual Scottish Style Awards in Glasgow last night when they were named as the most stylish Scots of 2009.
Other winners included Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart, rock band Codeine Velvet Club and iconic designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Linton, 25, originally from Edinburgh, has just announced a new role in US detective drama Cold Case, and was described by the expert judging panel as "a blossoming presence in Hollywood" and as "fast mastering the art of red carpet glamour with a cool and assured composure and natural charisma that signals a Scottish star very much on the ascent."
Meanwhile, for 23-year-old stage actor Madden, the title of Most Stylish Scotsman is merely the latest accolade. Described by the judging panel as "dark, brooding and impeccably slick", the Renfrewshire-born actor has already featured on the Esquire Brilliant Brits 2009 list as one of the UK's hottest young talents.
Now in their fifth year, the awards select the country's sassiest from 14 separate categories, covering fashion, arts, design, cuisine, music, screen, interior design and retail.
Enfant terrible turned grande dame of British fashion Vivienne Westwood took the award for International Style Icon. The 68-year-old former punk designer paid an emotional tribute to Scotland. In a pre-recorded message she said the country had exerted a singular influence on her stellar career, in particular through her personal love of Harris Tweed, which she has famously fashioned to create a iconoclastic fusion between old and new.
In a fitting complement to Westwood's award, the gong for Outstanding Contribution To Style went to Harris Tweed Hebrides. Founded in 2005, the company is widely acknowledged as having dramatically revived the flagging fortunes of the distinctive handwoven fabric.
Other winners to sashay away with top titles included Deryck Walker, who took the hotly contested Fashion Designer of the Year award for the second year running, and Royal College of Art graduate Rachel Barrett, whose fusion of silicon rubber outfits with over-sized ethereal chiffon and lace, won her the coveted Breakthrough Star of the Year award.
Pop princess Sophie Ellis Bextor presented the lavish event, held at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket, setting the tone by wearing five different outfits over the course of the evening and giving an energetic performance of her hit Heartbreak make me a dancer.
The judging panel comprised trip-hop icon Tricky; London stylist Judy Blame, whose past clients include Björk and Boy George; jeweller-to-the-stars Stephen Webster, whose designs have been worn by Madonna and Kate Moss; French publisher Yaffa Assouline; and Louise McKinney, head of development at London's Serpentine Gallery.
Last night, awards founder Mary McGowne said: "This year's Scottish Style Awards was a truly glittering affair and lived up to its reputation as the benchmark of contemporary creative excellence.
"What a thrill to have had so many stylish guests make the effort to fly in from across the globe to attend.
"The evening truly represented the dazzling face of modern Scotland."
The winners• Most stylish female: Louise Linton
• Most stylish male: Richard Madden
• Most stylish band: Codeine Velvet Club
• Fashion designer of the year: Deryck Walker
• Tastemakers of the year: Robert and Nicky Wilson, founders of Jupiter Artland
• Breakthrough star of the year: Rachel Barrett
• Most stylish high-street retailer: H&M
• Most stylish boutique: Mulberry
• Most stylish venue: The Green Room, Edinburgh
• Most stylish hotel: 21212, Edinburgh
• Most stylish restaurant: Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond
• Most stylish bar: Hummingbrid, Glasgow
• Outstanding contribution to Scottish style: Harris Tweed Hebrides
• International style icon: Dame Vivienne Westwood
Liz Longden 