I can still remember my first proper Malta Fashion Week; I had been going to the Fashion Awards for a few years before I started attending the shows themselves to write about them. I can still remember the feelings of excitement and anticipation I had as the lights changed and the music started, the feeling of falling in love with Ritienne Zammit’s punk and baroque hybrid collection and nervously approaching her for one of my first-ever interviews and most of all, I recollect that sense of being part of something greater: of seeing art in motion.
Since then, I’ve attended five or six years of shows religiously. Every year, for one entire week my friends, family and co-workers know that come rain, shine or hurricane Katrina, I will be firmly planted to a seat watching other people’s dreams come to life on beautiful canvases. I don’t just do it because I have to write about them, but I also do it because nothing compares to the moment when the music starts and you know that you’re about to see something amazing for the very first time. That said, there are also other wonderful things that make Malta Fashion Week such a lovely space.
I’ve attended five or six years of shows religiously
You make friends: Nothing binds people together faster than seeing them every day for a week. You don’t only get the opportunity to speak to new people every day while you’re waiting for a show to start but you also end up sharing the highs and lows of your day. I’ve made lots of new friends during fashion weeks and I’ve also become closer to friends I already had. Fashion week gives people the opportunity to find things in common with people they might not necessarily have spoken to or approached in the past.
You realise how much talent we have: although we are small, Malta Fashion Week gives people the opportunity to see new local designers and buy into their brand. Many now-established designers got their start at Malta Fashion Week as it gave them a platform to show their early work. I myself am always on the lookout for the next big thing to both write about as well as buy into. There’s nothing quite like supporting local designers because you know that you are helping them both grow as well as our industry.
You get inspired: The mark of whether something is truly creative or not is how inspired and moved you are by seeing it or being part of it. For someone who sees fashion as an art form, Malta Fashion Week is a moment where I have the opportunity to be re-inspired and mentally revitalised. It also reminds me of why I got into fashion in the first place. Each year is a new occasion to fall in love all over again.
