Istanbul Fashion Week hosted 21 fashion shows that took place between 7-10 September 2011 with the participation of 22 designers and 5 brands. Bringing Istanbul to the top of the world fashion agenda for 4 days, IFW Spring/Summer 2012 was followed by an audience of 30 thousand while a team of 1 thousand rendered services at the events. 250 foreign press members and buying groups from various countries chose Istanbul Fashion Week over New York Fashion Week that was organized at close dates.  
  
Istanbul Fashion Week was organized for the fifth time with an aim to promote Turkish designers and brands in the national and international arena and make a contribution to Turkish economy while increasing the design power in the fashion industry. 

George Blodwell, style adviser to Hollywood stars, Darren Lee Darnborough, famous British actor, and Matt Dillon, American actor, director and scriptwriter, were among those who attended IFW Spring/Summer 2012, and the directors of Berlin, Sao Paulo and Belarus Fashion Weeks came to Istanbul to watch the fashion shows held at the event. 
Organized in a giant tent set up in front of Tepebaşı TRT parking area, Istanbul Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 takes firm steps forward becoming a regional power. Bahar Korçan, Chairman of Fashion Designers Association (MTD), who underlined the collaborative efforts of the fashion brands and the designers at IFW, commented that the collaborative works of Hakan Yıldırım&Koton, Adil Işık&Cengiz Abazoğlu would further stand out in the upcoming periods, and said that Centre for Fashion Enterprise, a London-based counseling agency, has attended the event for two seasons to closely follow the designers.       

“The industry will account for the largest share with $60bln in achieving a target of $500bln exports that Turkey set for 2023. I believe IFW, which is very important to me, has a considerable role in reaching the industry target beside many other events and will become the most powerful fashion week in the respective geography," commented Hikmet Tanrıverdi, Chairman of IHKIB, who started his remarks saying that a very successful path was pursued in IFW journey initiated two years ago in collaboration with MTD, BMD and IMA.  

Giving information as to the financial structure of the event, Cem Kaprol, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Istanbul Fashion Week, commented that $1m was spent for IFW Spring/Summer 2012 and the turnovers in Beyoğlu and Galata region increased by 300 percent owing to local and foreign tourists’ spending. He added that the event made a $6m contribution to the city economy. Saying that joining the forces in the industry resulted in achievement, Yılmaz Yılmaz, Chairman of United Brands Association (BMD), characterized Shopping Fest, CPI and Istanbul Fashion Week as three crucial events which give synergy to one another.

“The editors of foreign editions of the magazines which steer the fashion world such as Vogue, Elle and foreign purchase groups from France, Italy, Spain, Russia and Lebanon also including La Fayette chose the event over New York Fashion Week organized at close dates. Our aim was to thoroughly extend into Istanbul. For this reason several fashion shows were organized at various locations such as Historical Galatasaray Hamam, Spoil and the Dutch Consulate General as well as the tent for 1000 people set up in front of Tepebasi TRT Parking Area. The night club 1111 also turned into a showroom where the designers’ collections were displayed. We intend to organize the next Istanbul Fashion Week during the first week of February 2012,” commented Süleyman Orakçıoğlu, Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Istanbul Fashion Week, in his remarks about the event. 

In the event supported by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Beyoglu Municipality Turkish Airlines acted as transportation sponsor and Markofoni as online fashion sponsor. San Pellegrino, Illy and Perrier were beverages sponsors and Divan was the catering sponsor. M.A.C., famous make-up brand acting as a sponsor during New York-London-Milano-Paris fashion weeks, was the make-up sponsor as the previous seasons.

for more information please visit www.ifw.com.tr