| Feeric Fashion Week | |
| Genre: | Clothing and fashion exhibitions |
| Date: | 17 to 22 July, 2018 |
| Frequency: | Annual |
| Location: | Sibiu |
| Country: | Romania |
| First: | 2008 |
| Founder Name: | Mitichi |
| Attendance: | Free |
| Area: | Sibiu and surroundings |
Originating in 2008, Feeric Fashion Week is an international fashion event where designers from more than 20 countries and four continents showcase their work. It is based in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania, and is covered by multiple fashion staples, including Vogue Italy, Schön Magazine, and Euronews. Vogue Italy has described it as one of the most important Romanian fashion events.[1] Vogue Italy commended Feeric Fashion Week's creativity of transforming the most peculiar places in catwalk-ready settings. Schön Magazine called Feeric Fashion Week the greatest fashion week in Eastern Europe.
The president of Feeric Fashion Week[2] is Mitichi. The event is supported by The City Hall of Sibiu.
The first Feeric Fashion Week was created by the art director and fashion photographer Mitichi and took place in 2008. Feeric is the Romanian word for "magic", and the name originates from the beauty of the Small Square - a square popular with both locals and tourists.
The first event was called "Feeric Fashion Show", a one-night outdoor event in the Small Square of Sibiu, created to attract attention to local fashion talent. The project was a success and developed into a bigger event. The second event was bigger, but still for one night; the same was true of the third event. Feeric then brought a runway built as a bridge over the road to Piata Mica.
The fourth event was renamed "Feeric Fashion Days" and held three days of events: fashion shows, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and the different innovative places it started to outline itself as a very creative fashion project. The following year, 2012, Feeric became an international six-day event.[3] [4]
In 2016 the event became "Feeric Fashion Week", with nine days of fashion shows at places such as airports, railway depots, factories, castles, palaces, streets, rivers, and bridges. The actress Catrinel Marlon was the ambassador of the ninth event.[5]
When the project began in 2008, there were three shows in the Small Square of Sibiu. Over time this event became the Feeric Gala, and is now the closing event of the week.
The Individual Show concept began in 2011, during the fourth event, and has become a popular event. "One of the strengths of this fashion event it’s definitely its locations: under the direction of founder Mitichi Preda, a little army of photographers, video makers, builders and assistants transformed, each time, the most random places in catwalk-ready settings. In this edition only, we’ve seen models walking down in the middle of the wood, through rural churches’ naves, in front of Hobbit Houses or on a rotating platform in the train depot (but last year they were also cat walking in the airport of Sibiu: runway, literally)".[6]
The Redal Expo offers 3000 square meters, which is the headquarters of Feeric Fashion Week.
Feeric Fashion Week hosts independent projects and supports them to develop. One of the projects is Atipic Beauty, a show featuring models in wheelchairs. "The event takes on fashion somewhat differently than most other fashion weeks, for instance, FFW Day One saw wheelchair bound models showcasing designs in association with Atipic Beauty, an organization for research into spinal cord injuries. Inclusive fashion that ebbs away at the superficial demeanour of the industry can’t be a bad thing. On that note, let’s touch on a couple of other highlights from this year’s FFW."[7]
Admission to shows at Feeric Fashion Week is free to the public, but is standing room only. Accredited journalists and bloggers will have their seats, and photographers their place in their special area.
Front-row seats at specific events are available by invitation only.
The main partner of the fashion week is The City Hall of Sibiu and international partners are Istituto Europeo di Design[8] Fashion Channel and Mad Mood Milano