EDINBURGH is set to give Glasgow a run for its money in the style stakes. Organisers of the inaugural Edinburgh International Fashion Festival have revealed plans to vastly extend the event in 2007.
The EIFF begins on Wednesday, with catwalk shows from Vivienne Westwood, Matthew Williamson and Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders, as well as shows from recent fashion graduates and big retailers in the capital.
David McGrain from the Edinburgh City Centre Management Company, which is helping to organise the festival, said that creative director Colin McDowell is already working on the 2007 programme after the high level of interest in this year? festival.
?/SPAN>We would like 2007 to extend to two weekends with a whole week of events in between, and to get more Scottish designers involved,?he said.
?/SPAN>For example there are four graduates this year who have benefited from ?4,000 in support for their collections, but we think that could go as high as ?00,000 next year. That is the kind of funding new designers need to get off the ground.
?/SPAN>Ideally, we would like to encourage designers to stay in Scotland, help train other students and bring in investment into the fashion industry.?
The new fashion festival has been greeted enthusiastically by Scotland? style watchers, who snapped up tickets for the Vivenne Westwood show in the space of five days.
Westwood? Fabric of Scotland show will demonstrate the way in which the queen of punk has used Scotland? key textiles on catwalks over the decades.
Brigitte Stepputtis, head of couture for the label, said the designer had arranged ? special show for Scotland.?
?/SPAN>It will be glamorous and sparkling. We haven? been in Scotland for quite a while now so we really want to make a splash,?she said.
However, members of the fashion industry are more critical of the new festival.
Last week Michelle Mone, head of the Ultimo bra empire, said she was ?xtremely annoyed?that the EIFF was being headlined by designers based outside of Scotland. Although Saunders was brought up and trained north of the Border he is now based in London.
McGrain said the criticism was unwarranted. ?his is the first year we have put on the festival, and it has taken us 18 months to get to this point,?he said. ?ow we are up and running and looking ahead to 2007 I think we acknowledge that there is plenty more we could add to the programme, and we will.
?/SPAN>But the ticket sales show the huge interest in the event. It is a global industry, centred on Paris, Milan, London and New York.
?/SPAN>Edinburgh and Glasgow are waking up to being a bit more stylish and I hope this event will showcase that.?
Jonathan Saunders, the rising star of British fashion design, said it was ?rrelevant?that few Scotland-based designers were appearing at the festival.
?/SPAN>Fashion is an international industry. From models to stylists to designers people come from so many different countries, but they are all in the fashion centres of London, New York etc. I don? think its a problem that the people headlining the event are not based in Scotland.
The 28-year-old, who is known for his bold, graphic designs, added: ? had to move to London for educational reasons, and then later to be close to the buyers.
?/SPAN>You have to be where the market is. It would be nice to see a Scottish designer at the show but I wouldn? get too hung up about it.?/SPAN>
