‘’Take your seats and fasten your seatbelts, we are about to land in Split’’. Blue sky, white sail boats, villas on a mountain side and what seems to be a thousand islands.

No need for a Game of Thrones spoiler alert and Dobrovnik is not in my itinerary. This June I was invited to cover MGF Awards (My Global Fashion) and to discover the magic of Croatia. The opportunity to visit Split was an invitation by CEO Gianna Apostolski founder of MGF Awards, an event held for the second time in Split, Croatia. With categories such as ‘’Model Of The Year’’,  “Life Achievement and Contribution to Fashion” and ‘’Fashion Icon’’ the awards ceremony attracts local and international media attention and nominees from Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina piqued my curiosity about this up and coming platform.

The evening prior to the ceremony I had the pleasure to meet the 5 members of the jury in an intimate dinner at Mazzgoon, a family run modern restaurant located in the heart of Split old town. Nenad Korkut, Zvona Vučković, Neda Makjanić-Kunić, Josip Grabovac, Marco Consoli and Vanja Ljubić are all experts in their fields and well known personas in the fashion industry. Josip Grabovac, award winning blogger from Bosnia and Herzegovina, explained to me how fast the platform grew in the past year with many international celebrities requesting invitations to attend the event.

With cameras flashes and 280 glamorous guests all dressed in black and white, I stepped in to the beautiful Art Nouveau courtyard of Perivoj. The tables were spread in the garden surrounding a fountain and finger food by chefs Hrvoje Zirojević, Braco Sanjin and Ivan Pažanin was served to the guests. two ‘’Outstanding Achievement'’ awards were given to Founder and CEO of Belgrade Fashion Week, Nenad Radujevic and supermodel Jelena Ivanovic for her contribution to the industry. Italian Luci Moritto took home ‘’The Master Tailor 2018 award’’ and  Stefan Djokovic won the "Upcoming Star 2018" for his designs.

A full day under the Croatian sun was dedicated to the fabulous after party held on the small island of Palmizana with a collaboration of the luxurious Lounge Bar Laganini. While hopping from one boat to another I’ve realized how important a platform like MGF Award is to Croatia. With a population of just over 4 million, a black and white glamorous event has a huge impact on fashion awareness in the Balkan country. While the industry flourishes across the Adriatic in Italy (with a population 15 times the size), southeast European countries are in need of a good PR and media exposure provided by events like MGF.

Visit the MGF Awards social media for more photos from the 2019 event.