Whistleblower slams global events giant for bailing on our fashion week

A former IMG employee has hit out at the global events company saying it abandoned the industry which lined its pockets for 20 years

Former IMG employee Emily Weight has hit out at the global events company for abandoning Australian Fashion Week. Picture: Supplied

A former IMG employee has hit out at the global events company, saying it abandoned the industry which lined its pockets for 20 years.

Emily Weight, who was the head of IMG fashion prior to the current head, Natalie Xenita, for six years and has 15 years’ experience in the industry, has weighed in on the US-owned events company’s abrupt withdrawal of its support of the event.

“I feel sad that IMG didn’t have the commitment to the industry to give notice, and to ensure that our designers and our media and our retailers weren’t in a position where they were scrambling to fulfil their plans,” Weight told Sunday Confidential.

“Two weeks before they announced this, they were doing a call for designers, so either the local team were completely blindsided by decisions that were made in the global level … I personally think a company like IMG, that is running an event that is so important to our fashion industry, and has been receiving government funding for almost its entire lifetime, that they owed it to the industry to do better and give notice and do a soft handover.”

It is rumoured that IMG turned over around a million bucks a year from the event, however, this is not information Wright would weigh into.

“I am not sure, but the business model was always challenged,” she said.

Carla Zampatti CEO Alex Schuman, Australian Fashion Council chair Marianne Perkovic, AFC CEO Jaana Quaintance-James and Edwina McCann from Vogue after the news that IMG was pulling out of Australian Fashion Week, Picture: John Feder/The Australian

This week high profile industry names including NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham, Australian Fashion Council chair Marianne Perkovic, Australian Fashion Council CEO Jaana Quaintance-James and Editorial Director & Publisher News Prestige and Conde Nast titles Australia Edwina McCann gathered in a show of solidarity for the local industry and campaigned for the AFC to take the lead of the week-long event.

Brands including Carla Zampatti, Camilla & Marc, Romance was Born, Alix Higgins, Jordan Gogos, Christopher Esber, Aje, Cue, Bianca Spender and Carl Kapp are also behind the change of guard.

“It is exciting to think that fashion week 2.0 on a not-for-profit model could actually be successful,” Weight said.

“It needs to serve the industry, not just make a profit.

“The model wasn’t working for a long time and the business focus was looking at the bottom line only, and so when you start pulling back from production quality or reducing marketing investments and prioritising sponsorships … it starts to really conflict and you end up with a problem.

“Now is the time when no one person or one body should be telling the industry how this is going to be going forward.

“This is a moment in time where we stop and we go, let’s listen.

“What does the industry need? Where did this event go wrong? What can we learn and how can we build something better rather than have a new group take over and deliver the exact same thing.”

Do you have a story for The Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Whistleblower slams global events giant for bailing on our fashion week