The fourth edition of the annual pret-a-porte Bulgarian Fashion Forum has been held in the recently opened Exhibition Centre on Tzarigradsko Shousse. The tradition of the last couple of years has been replaced with a modern and a new vision of the fashion event.

Ivan Chalakov, organizer of the Forum, explained that the show has not been mentioned for a while in reviews and now the time has come to break up the cliches a bit. He explained that the designers cast lots to decide the participants in the five-day pret-a-porte.

Chalakov, the owner of a trading company working in the field of meat products, decided to enter the field of fashion and made up his mind to stay there due to his partiality for beauty and grace. "That is why I decided to work in cooperation with Darina Pavlova (owner of Megatalant Model Agency) since she is well acquainted with trends in modeling," he added.

This year's face of the Fashion show is the Miss Bulgaria 2001 Ivaila Bakalova who agreed to carry the crown on the fashion stage of the Forum presenting new names in the prevailing style of garment makings.

With the participation of many foreign names and boutiques on stage, this review was an innovative change from previous years. Georgi Kolev, a famous Bulgarian designer, regretted the loss of the already established names in the fashion field of Bulgaria. "It is not likely for the apprentice to walk side by side with the master whose garments and outfit he has many times sewn himself," he said.

As a veteran on the pret-a-porte's floor in Bulgaria and an organizer of a Fashion Review Annual Show since 1987, he commented about the lack of quality designs and worthless collections. According to him, the diversion from the already accepted trend for an annual forum has been detected through the underwear displayed and the type of appearance of models.

As a fashion expert and dedicated designer, he is opposed to the gathering of unknown names represented with seven or eight garments and to calling them collections. "It seems as though we are repeating the same things over and over again and we do not consider innovation or impressive modernity in fashion," Kolev said.

He disagreed with the wide range of foreign representatives and the boutique way of presenting the show. The first four years of the forum were featured with typical designers from the Bulgarian fashion elite, unlike this year, as Kolev commented.

The ladies dresses by Giorgio Armani, Clips, Gas, Pepe Jeans and Paola Apsi opened up the pret-a-porte. The closing night of the show was unexpected and full of surprises. Master Manchorov, a former chef, is now producing underwear and tops (club fashion) in various colours and all of these were shown on Tuesday.