Difference between Malta Fashion Week & Malta Fashion Awards

 By: Unknown    06:10  No comments

BRIDAL -2014 - Photo by KURT PARIS

The difference between Malta Fashion Week & Malta Fashion Awards might seem obvious to some. However, I've lost count of the number of times I've had to verbally explain to different people that there are two events in Malta and that going to the Saturday Night Awards Night does not mean you've attended Malta Fashion Week and sampled all that our local designers have to offer.

As the name implies, Fashion Week is something that happens over the span of an approximate week. In London, although still called a fashion WEEK, it is actually 5 days, in Milan 6, in Paris 8 ..you get the gist. In Malta, the length has varied from 7 - 8 days. A fashion week, in general, is one whereby on each day, there will be one or more shows showcasing both local and international designers. Presentations, parties and receptions might also feature into the mix. In large fashion weeks there might be something like 30 different official events happening on each day. In Malta, seeing as we cater to a far smaller population, it is generally 1 or 2. The Awards Night happens right after Fashion Week, on the final Saturday and is a small showcase of what happened throughout Fashion Week. There are also a number of other presentations, such as hair shows and of course the awards themselves.

FASHION AWARDS - 2014 - Photo by MIKLOS XUEREB

In Malta, first came the Fashion Awards, back in 1997, 17 years ago. The fashion awards were immediately popular, happening once a year and gaining a larger audience each year. Five years ago, Malta Fashion Week was created and it's been happening once yearly ever since. Since the awards night is the original event, it is the one event which most Maltese people are familiar with and thereby attend. Whilst it is great that a large audience attends this night, I fear that  a lot of people haven't actually understood that there are many more events in the days prior to the awards night. Tickets to the Fashion Week events are actually free !! It's just a matter of booking your place with the organisers and this last bit is important, especially for the more popular ones as these tend to get booked out within a few days.

On the individual days, during Fashion Week, the designers get a chance to showcase a larger amount of pieces from their collections, in a more intimate setting. If you are truly interested in learning about a designer, attending the individual show will better serve this purpose. 

GAGLIARDI - 2014 - Photo by KURT PARIS

Throughout fashion week, there are also events such as  the extremely popular and always booked out New Designers. Over here, new, emerging designers showcase pieces as a means of participating in the New Designer Competition, awarded on the awards night. 

The Bridal show is also a popular one, especially with prospective brides and one of my favourites is the International Designers Night which showcases different designers from all corners of the world.

INTL DESIGNERS - 2014 - Photo by KURT PARIS

The dates for this year's events are from the 9th May to the 16th May and a little birdie has told me that the calendar of events will soon be launched so keep your eyes and ears peeled for more info. 

COMING SOON : Ideas on What to Wear to Malta Fashion Week and Malta Fashion Awards :D - Check out My Shopping Picks For some Ideas Until Then

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Events Post : MFWA - Charles and Ron - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Malta 2014 - Day3

 By: Unknown    16:51  No comments

Today I must start by simply talking about the setting and organisation of this show and the show as a show. I thought the previous day's show (Caroline Hili) would be impossible to match up to as a location but Fort St Elmo is pretty incredible, the lighting was perfect and the projections projected onto the fort were really impressive. The organisers and producers of this year's fashion week have a really lot to be proud of and it's going to be pretty hard to beat this next year. 

Now about the clothes, we've always known that Charles and Ron can design and produce beautiful clothes, year after year, they always wow us. However, every year their collections and image seem to get more and more sophisticated and their work and brand as a whole seems to become more refined. Today's show and collection screamed 'fashion house', from the way the logo was worked onto the different pieces, to the fact that they designed everything - from the shoes to the bags to the clothes, to the fact that they continue to create unique, different patterns and customize specific fabrics using these patterns - the brand as it has become, has really matured into a company and fashion house.

The clothes are beautiful but again, we always knew they would be, many of the pieces are highly wearable but they all have a touch of sophistication about them. Some of the pieces do require perfect figures, such as the tight midi skirts with cropped, box-shaped tops but there were many other different designs that could suit a variety of shapes and sizes. In fact, this is what really showcased their skill at designing, this was not a collection made up entirely of one style, a variety of different styles and designs were worked in a way such that all occasions and bodies are catered for but it was still a collection and each piece flowed seamlessly into the next one.

The collection was inspired by the city of Valletta and one of the pattern highlights is the Funtana, the Triton fountain found just outside our city wall...I'm going to have to get myself one of the Funtana dresses. The new small bags also stole my heart, so cute and funky and just plain interesting.

I must not fail to mention the makeup by Justin Brincat, I thought it was rather brilliant, especially since although it was a rather extreme look, he and his team somehow managed to make every girl still appear pretty without the make up looking in any way different from one model to the other. I also loved the hairstyles by Alexander. The look as a whole really exemplified the different characteristics of the city, the modern new additions, the old, the quiet, the bustling...the look was a contradictory look with dark black cat eyes and metallic silver toned, different coloured lips, pastel coloured clothing but with fierce prints - the contradictions and contrasts were everywhere.

My favourite item in the collection

Want to know what I wore ? Read this

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Events Post : Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Malta - Day 1 - Solo Designers

 By: Unknown    06:09  No comments

Today was the first day of the much anticipated Malta Fashion Week and it opened with a big bang with two solo shows by local designers Creative Factory 7 and Ritienne Zammit.

The beautiful models from supernovamodel.com did a wonderful job modelling on the streets of Valletta with vivid, creative makeup by the team led by Krista Paris and great hair styles by Michael and Guy.

All photos by Kurt Paris.

I didn't actually watch the whole show , my job was backstage :) but this means I had the perfect close up view of all the clothes and WOW. Creative factory 7 presented a lovely, lovely, beautiful collection..lovely fabrics printed witb their own illustrations, flowing materials, vivid colours and lots of different patterns. There were long, elegant dresses as well as short, cute-as-a button others. The collection is quite 60s inspired and the beehive hairstyle further enhanced this.

Next up was Ritienne Zammit and after last year's amazing first collection, Malta was waiting. She exceeded expectations - from the promo before the show, to the choice of music, to of course the brilliant, brilliant designs. Rich brocade heavy fabric combined with plastic and fur...accessories spelling out words like Eva and Amen ...this designer hit all the right notes. 

The collection is rich and powerful with the designs accentuating the right parts of the body. She also presented an exciting male collection that is dark and exciting and reminded me of vampires somehow but IMA good way, the sexy modern kind.

This was an impressive first start to the week and looking forward to many more. Thumbs up to both designers, they both have an exciting future ahead of them.

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MFWA : CHURPINA - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    22:45  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week later. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week) , I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on CHURPINA 
Pina started in the fashion world by first making designs for herself and then for friends but when a photographer used some of her designs for a shoot in a magazine her brand took off. She is self-taught and is constantly reading books about the subject and looking information online. She is also a Podiatrist by profession. She always loved fashion design and remembers trying to make her first handbag at around age 11. It was a square 90s across body thingy with sequins attached.

he name of this collection is Relaxation Time, this is not her first time showcasing in MFW. She participated in 2011 but could not take part in the following years because she was reading a Masters degree. Here is her sneak peek:

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MFWA : TAIA - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    13:56  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week later. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week) , I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on TAIA - a brand made up of two female designers creating womenswear.

When I met Mandy and Alicia, I was impressed by how different these two girls are, both in terms of looks and character. Two female designers from vastly different backgrounds, one Maltese, one Russia - Mandy and Alicia met 8 years ago on a photo shoot (they were the models), they became firm friends and always talked about one day designing a collection together. This year those talks become reality as they present to us this brand and collection at Malta Fashion Week. 

They told me how they have been planning this collection for a whole year, the theme is made up of all these elements - flowers, malta, russia, nature. They created a print merged of 5 different flowers -  Alicia favours peonies whilst Mandy goes for roses as their favourite flower and they then had the fabrics printed abroad. 

Besides nature they are very also inspired by fashion and couture - Mandy cites Roberto Cavalli as her designer inspiration whilst Alicia is inspired by Valentino. They describe their autumn/winter collection as a marriage of differences, a combination of elegance and ready-to-wear and here is their sneak peek photo:

For them this is just the beginning and they plan on taking their collection to Russia and having their own showroom

P.S Don't forget to enter my competition to win two tickets to the MALTA FASHION AWARDS

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MFWA : Lukka - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    04:30  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week later. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week), I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on LUKKA - a brand creating vintage-inspired womenswear.

Lukka Pizzuto's first foray into the word of fashion was actually as hair stylist - he studied hair styling at MCAST for 3 years. When he completed this course he immediately began studying fashion design, also at MCAST from which he was finished just last year.

This is his first time showcasing a collection at Malta Fashion Week, he describes his collection as a vintage-inspired (1940/1950 eras) floral clothing collection drawing on Van Gogh for inspiration, various drawings of floral yards and flowers which he then pictures on people.

His dream is to work full time as a fashion designer and move to east London. Here is a sneak peek of his collection.

P.S Don't forget to enter my competition to win two tickets to the MALTA FASHION AWARDS

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MFWA : Rosemarie Abela (RMA) - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    07:18  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week alter. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week), I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on Rosemarie Abela (RMA) a brand creating WOMENSWEAR with a difference.

Upon meeting Rosemarie, my impression was that although she is still young, she is very ambitious and determined - she is now 22 years old, she left Malta at the age of 18 and travelled to Florence to begin her studies in fashion. She spent four years studying there and describes it as a fantastic experience, studying with fellow students from all over the world, she graduated last year and returned to Malta.

This is her first collection that she has worked on independent of her time at the university, however whilst at university, she also presented two solo collections. The brand RMA was launched two years ago and her dream and plan is to have her own studio/shop which will open by appointment. Although her primary religion is catholicism, she also upholds the buddhism religion and this is reflected in her use of the enso circle in her logo (first pic).

This her first time presenting at Malta Fashion Week and she describes her collection as inspired mainly by asia but also by three different themes Twiggy, China and Samurai and here is her sneak peek:

P.S Don't forget to enter my competition to win two tickets to the MALTA FASHION AWARDS

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MFWA : PARASCANDALO MARCO - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    07:26  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week alter. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week), I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on PARASCANDALO MARCO - a brand creating MENSWEAR fashion for all those men who like to stand out from the crowd.

First off let’s start by saying that also his surname might not make this clear, Marco is Maltese and hails from the quaint and beautiful Birgu.  He studied in Malta, at the Malta College of Art Science and Technology (Mcast) in Art and Design and furthered his studies in Tailoring and Fashion Design. This is the first time he is exhibiting in Malta Fashion Week, from 2010 till 2104 he was actually living in London were he worked on various projects within the fashion industry. 




In 2012 Marco then started up his business - selling his designed fashion pieces, he sold these pieces at new designer and vintage markets around London, such as Brick Lane and Notting Hill but they are also available for sale online on Asos Marketplace and Ebay. 

Having spent the last two years in London, it should come as no surprise that his main inspiration for this collection is actually EAST LONDON, however he describes the collection as having a MALTESE twist. A ready to wear collection for all the boys who want to be noticed and different from the crowd. Marco's sneak peek is a bit different ..he's showing us his new logo (first pic) and this blurred photo below and he leaves it up to our imagination :)

P.S Don't forget to enter my competition to win two tickets to the MALTA FASHION AWARDS

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MFWA : Fransina - New Designer - Mercedes Benz Malta Fashion Week 2014

 By: Unknown    00:39  No comments

On Saturday the 24th May, the New Designers Fashion Show will take place as part of Malta Fashion Week 2014. This is the show in which emerging local designers have the chance to show the country their designs and basically get noticed, it is also a form of competition as one designer will win the best new designer award at the Malta Fashion Awards one week alter. In anticipation of this event, (one of my favourite in the whole week), I will be shining the spotlight on each of these 'new designers'.

Today we shine the spotlight on Fransina - a brand creating beautiful, handmade bags.

When I sat down to interview the brains behind this project (her name is actually Fransina), I was immediately greeted by a wonderful smile; this lovely young woman is very friendly and very easy to talk to, with a warm and open approach. She talked to me about her love of handbags, her love of eclectic designs and how each bag she creates is different from the previous one.

The name of the brand is Fransina and it was launched in September 2012. This is the first time she is exhibiting in Malta Fashion Week. At the young age of 16, she started studying fashion design at Manzoni Fashion House in Malta. This was her starting point and entry into the world of design and fashion. Her primary focus up until now has been selling at different local artisan markets such as Patches and Malta Artisan Market but she plans to open a shop in the near future. Her target audience is 'vintage lovers of all ages'

She describes the collection, (which is to made up of 6 bags of different styles and fabrics), she is exhibiting at Malta Fashion Week as inspired by the eclectic designs of Alexander McQueen but incorporating a retro, 50s style.

A peek at her collection

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Malta Fashion Week&Awards 2014 : A New Year & My Acceptance Speech

 By: Unknown    04:00  No comments

So by now you must have heard the news that Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Malta 2014 & Malta Fashion Awards 2014 will be held from Sat 24th May to Sat 31st May, the last event is the mega popular Malta Fashion Awards 

This promo video with a recap of what's happened over the past years has been released - if you'e interested in being a sponsor for this year's event, hurry, as far as I know there are very few places still available...

Last year's event holds mega special memories for me, both because I won the Best Fashion Stylist Award and also because I got to work backstage which was such a great experience.....really looking forward to this year's event, although I'd better prepare the energy pills.....

I've had a few requests asking if I have a video of my acceptance speech and I do.... but I was never really sure about putting this up as I whenever I watch it, I cringe at my over-excitement and my speech in general ...but a year has gone by and I figure ...here goes .....there are actually two videos - the first is a just the announcement without my speech which was given to me by PBS (so the official recording), the second was taken by a good friend of mine, who wanted to ensure I'd never forget every word I said :P

And for the speech....

Arghhh.....still cringing....:) for details of my outfit go here

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News Flash : Malta Fashion Week & Fashion Awards 2014

 By: Unknown    06:45  No comments

Hot off the wire, this information has just been released :

"IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Malta 2014 will be held from Sat 24th May to Sat 31st May. 

Lots of preparations and plans are being finalized right now and many big announcements will be published over the coming weeks. So watch this space..."

There's also a call for: 

"Make Up Artists & Hair Stylists who wish to form part of our back stage crew during Malta Fashion Week & Awards 2014 are to send email to elaine@fashionweek.com.mt"

Last year's event was a huge success and was really well executed, for me it was even moe special as I won the best stylist award at the Malta Fashion Awards and formed part of the team backstage.

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