Embattled fashion event Style-Aid has now officially fallen through, after being postponed only weeks earlier. The event which aimed to raise money for AIDS awareness failed to get the support of the AIDS Foundation, who said the event sounded “fabulous” but the “organisation seemed vague and poor”. Ironically, after the first smoke-signals of trouble in October, ex-Hero CEO Sean Lofts turned up in Auckland, allegedly to help rescue the event. Lofts fled New Zealand in 2001 amid the chaos of the Hero collapse, which left behind $140,000 worth of debt and accusations of falsifying financial accounts and mismanagement of events. Lofts avoided contact with the gay media while in New Zealand, with Express newspaper being stood up for an arranged interview. Style-Aid organiser Lyn Parent says she has lost about $43,000 of her own money on posters, flyers and overseas telephone bills. She managed to raise $16,400 for a similar event in 2000, which involved 23 big-name fashion designers, but had set a target of $1,000,000 for this year's Style-Aid. Parent is blaming a lack of support from the AIDS Foundation and an inability to attract fashion designers for the collapse of this year's event.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 18th November 2003 - 12:00pm