In a devious and reprehensible attempt to garner press coverage, Chilean fashion designer Ruben Campos has brought negative attention and publicity to himself. Mr. Campos recently boasted to “Las Ultimas Noticias” newspaper in Santiago that he canceled his scheduled fashion show at Couture Fashion Week New York on September 11, 2016 because he was not satisfied with the models for his show. What he neglected to mention was that he himself selected the models for his show the previous day and never expressed any dissatisfaction with them at that time.
In his interview with LAN, Mr. Campos claims the models were too short, and that he requires models a minimum 1.75 meters tall (5’8”). According toCouture Fashion Week producer Andres Aquino, all the models Mr. Campos selected were between 5’9” and 6’. Mr. Campos also claims he fitted the models on Saturday with the dresses to be shown on Sunday. This is not true. He did not bring the dresses to the fitting on Saturday, as is the standard procedure when preparing for an important fashion show. And if he claims to have fitted the models on Saturday, why did he do that if the models were not up to his standards? And why did he not mention his complaint to the event producer and staff during the fitting? There were more than enough models on hand during the fitting, so if some did not meet his requirements, there were plenty of alternates available.
Mr. Campos showed an arrogant lack of professionalism with his last minute cancellation. He never had the courtesy to notify the event organizers that he was pulling out. Staff frantically tried to reach Mr. Campos for several hours when he did not show up on Sunday afternoon with the dresses to be shown on the runway. Models were waiting with their hair and makeup done, the audience was literally seated, the press was ready to cover the show with anticipation. Couture Fashion Week associate Pierre Dulanto of Moda Total, even had a special music mix prepared and cued to play during Mr. Campos’s show.
Finally, a few minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, Mr. Campos decided to contact the producer to casually say he decided not to show. Needless to say, this caused a huge number of problems. Event staff scrambled to call in some additional performers, and the Elie Esper Salon, long time Couture Fashion Week Official Hair Stylists, stepped in to show some dazzling hair creations for the audience who had been looking forward to seeing the designs of Ruben Campos. The event producer had to apologize and offer the audience access to another show and the after party as compensation, which represents a monetary hit to the event.
Mr. Campos’s complete lack of respect for the hard-working models, hair and makeup artists, event producer, audience and press is shocking. Thousands of dollars in pre-event promotion, preparation and sales efforts for Mr. Campos’s show were done by Couture Fashion Week. He seems proud of how badly he treated all the people involved, and even boasted that he has done this type of thing several times before.
By playing the diva extraordinare, Mr. Campos brought great distress to the young women dreaming of their catwalk moment. One of the models who traveled to New York for the event was extremely upset, saying “My parents flew in from California and spent lots of money on travel and hotel to see me on the runway, only to find out at the last minute that Mr. Campos decided to cancel the show." And like her, many other models did not commit to walk in other shows because they were selected to be in Mr. Campos’s show.
Over 250 press orga nizations cover Couture Fashion Week, and the attending audience was around 350 people for Mr. Campos’s show. This season the event is also being covered by ZEE TV with a global reach over 1 billion viewers.
Hopefully, the experience that Couture Fashion Week had with Ruben Campos in New York will serve as a warning to other event producers and organizers who might consider working with this inconsiderate and unprofessional designer.
In the course of 24 seasons, Couture Fashion Week New York has become one of New York Fashion Week’s most prestigious events. It has presented hundreds of exceptional designers, many showing in the USA for the first time. The event includes world-class entertainment, trend-setting hair and makeup styling by industry leaders, and after parties, and it attracts fashion lovers, celebrities and VIPs from around the world.
For more information, please visit: CoutureFashionWeek.com
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