Designers who take part in Fashion Forward (FFWD) in Dubai pay a “very approachable package” priced at up to $22,000 in order to participate in one fashion show at the bi-annual event, co-founder Bong Guerrero told Arabian Business.
The event, which was halted for two years after facing ‘viability’ concerns from stakeholders, will come back in October with an added e-commerce platform, but will continue to require fashion designers to pay “anywhere from AED25,000 ($7,000) to AED80,000 ($22,000)” to set up one show, Guerrero said.
He claimed that designers would “easily pay four times the amount” if they were to set up a fashion show independently, as FFWD provides “shared tech production and venue costs” among other expenses.
“Designers pay a very approachable package to participate. It includes complete production from hall to sound lights and we have various packages,” Guerrero said.
FFWD’s revenue stream depends mainly on designer participation and brand advertising.
“We’re a commercial platform so we get revenue from designers for participation and from brands like Evian, Pepsi, Mac, L’Oréal …” he said.
FFWD’s new e-commerce platform is expected to add to its revenue stream and comes after it stopped operations to reassess its format which relied mostly on fashion shows.
“One of reasons we paused for a few seasons is that we needed to reassess the viability of the platform for our stakeholders, this why we tweaked the format. There was a lot of growing concern over timeliness and format with regards to the buying cycle of fashion globally,” Guerrero said.
“So we had to reassess and revaluate the viability of platform… [also due to a] bit of a downturn in the economy, it was a blessing in disguise that we took the time off to revaluate” he added.
The change in format also comes a year and a half after co-founder Ramzi Nakad told Arabian Business that FFWD will become consumer-centric rather than industry dependent by evolving the business into a fully integrated offline and online fashion platform versus its current physically limited bi-annual event “manifestation.”
The company will continue to set up fashion shows for designers but will now offer consumers the chance to buy the collections showcased off the runway via an online platform.
Designers looking to participate in Fashion Forward’s next edition can now register at www.fashionforward.ae until June 27, though participation is subject to approval.
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