FWA - Trouble in Paradise

With Fashion Week Athens still at large, I received a press release by the hfda as well as a scan of the latest Athens Voice issue's page on fashion week (AV is among the sponsors of Fashion Week Athens). The problem seems to be Mr. Kioukas', the organiser's position as to the lack of hfda presence in the ongoing event:

"The truth is that from the members of the Hellenic Fashion Designers Association, it's only the most active ones participating. I am sorry that the rest, important names in fashion, are not taking place, but that's happening because they do not have their collections ready for the next season. At the same time, the Association makes no effort to promote domestic fashion. The companies are small and stay strictly within the walls of their ateliers - they do not reach the shop windows. Very few have the business logic, which is the basic logic of fashion".

To this, the hfda responds with the following release:
"We are making you aware that the Hellenic Fashion Designers Association has no relation to the event under the title "Fashion Week Athens" that is taking place at Gazi from the 22nd till the 25th of October.

That is all a private initiative different to that organised by the Association, under the title "ATHENS COLLECTIONS".

The institution of Hellenic Fashion Week is the official fashion event in Greece, that began with the initiative of the Association, is organised by that and is under it's direct supervision. Any other initiative, acts misleadingly and does not serve the interests of the fashion field, but only personal financial interests.

The event discussed here is organised by the ex-organiser of the Hellenic Fashion Week, Mr. Antonis Kioukas, with whom the Association never finally came to an agreement for the use of the Association's brandname and as a result the participation of its members, because the required aesthetic, quality and financial commitments that secure the interests of the designer-members of the Association, were not met.

For this reason, we assertively belie the statement of Mr. Kioukas in the press saying that "important names in fashion, do not take part in the event because they do not have their collections ready for next season", a fact totally untrue and offensive to the members of the Association.

The Association holds any legal right against untrue and misleading information causing damage to its members.

Hellenic Fashion Designers Association

I am not going to reach any conclusions here, I am simply posting what I receive. However, since we always complain there is not much info coming in from the designers' side and I know well that this press release has been sent to all members of the press, I am curious to see if anyone will bother writing anything about it, or do any kind of journalistic research on the subject.