KUALA LUMPUR: The last minute cancellation of the 2018 Asia Islamic Fashion Week (AIFW) gala opening was allegedly due to the organiser's failure to pay for the rental of the venue at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC).
Guests were left wondering as some were not aware that the event, scheduled to start at 8pm, had been cancelled and only found out when they arrived, expecting to attend the gala opening last night.
It is learned that organisers personally met designers involved in the event a few hours before the gala opening to inform of the cancellation.
According to a source, the rental cost was RM200,000.
AIFW founder Fuza Umar in a statement said they had made various preparations for the event however unforeseen circumstances forced them to arrive at the decision to cancel it.
"The decision to cancel the 2018 AIFW had to be made after a few things were considered," Fuza said, apologising for what had transpired.
In a letter to the fashion brand Bianco Mimosa which was shared on @mybiancomimosa's Instagram page, Fuza said: "We completed all areas of the event preparation to the best of our ability and were almost towards our final stages. Unfortunately, an incident, beyond our control, took place resulting in us having to make a tough decision to cancel the event."
The event was scheduled to take place from July 26 to 29 in MECC and was supposed to have seen the participation of 38 local and international designers.
Among those involved were Fiziwoo, Bianco Mimosa, Naelofar Hijab and Jeny Tjahwati.
In a statement, Matrade explained that the 2018 AIFW was not a Matrade event, stressing their place was just used as a venue.
Matrade said the location of MECC was within the Matrade building, however it was not part of the corporation's role as a trade promotion agency.
Lifestyle write Datuk Kee Hua Chee wrote on his blog that he had arrived for the gala opening at 7.15pm last night, only to be told the event was cancelled.
Initially thinking it was a joke, Kee said he then saw the 'stunned faces of guests, buyers, sellers and models who were huddled together on the floor or standing in conference'.
He asked some of them and received the same answer, that the show had infact been cancelled.
At the time, Kee said no one knew the reason for the cancellation.
