Draft:Mitichi Preda

Mitichi Preda
Born
Dumitru Preda

(1982-03-05) 5 March 1982 (age 44)
Apoldu de Jos, Sibiu County, Romania
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • photographer
  • art director
  • fashion event organiser
Years active2000–present
Known forFounder and president of Feeric Fashion Week
Websitefeeric.ro

Mitichi Preda (born Dumitru Preda; 5 March 1982, Apoldu de Jos, Sibiu County, Romania) is a Romanian film director, producer, photographer, and art director, best known as the founder and president of Feeric Fashion Week, an international fashion event held annually in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania. He is also the founder of Feeric Hub, an educational and entrepreneurial platform for emerging fashion designers.

Feeric Fashion Week has been described by Vogue Italia as the most important fashion event in Romania and by Schön Magazine as the greatest fashion week in Eastern Europe.[1] Euronews is among its international media partners.[2]

Early life and education

Preda was born on 5 March 1982 in Apoldu de Jos, a village in Sibiu County, where he spent most of his childhood. He shot his first photographs on film at the age of twelve.[3] After completing secondary education at the National Pedagogical College "Andrei Șaguna" in Sibiu in 2000, with advanced studies in English and intermediate French, he enrolled at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, graduating in 2003 with a Bachelor's degree in Social Psychology and Pedagogy (First Class Honours, 180 ECTS credits). His thesis focused on Critical Thinking. He subsequently studied Marketing at ROGER University in Sibiu.

Preda has described his Transylvanian childhood as formative: raised during the late communist era, he spent his early years exploring the countryside around Apoldu de Jos before moving to Sibiu, where he encountered "new worlds" of creative possibility.[3]

Career

Early career in advertising and television (2000–2007)

At the age of eighteen, Preda began working as a marketing assistant at an advertising agency in Sibiu. His skills in visual communication led to his appointment as Marketing Director of Pan Food, a confectionery manufacturer in Sibiu. In 2005, he co-founded MITICHI ideas SRL, an advertising agency, alongside business partner Dumitru Orastean, serving as its General Manager until 2010.[3] The agency partnered with Antena 1 Sibiu, for which Preda produced television programmes including Clubbing, Lifestyle, and Rising Star.

In parallel, Preda developed a career in fashion photography from 2005 onwards, working with Romanian fashion brands including Escudo, Tenue de Saf, Anka's, Xtravagance, Carla Rosinni, Sibeins, and Saga. He shot editorial and catalogue campaigns in Dubai, Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Paris.[3] From 2008, his photography was distributed through a collaboration with AGERPRES, the Romanian National News Agency, and was published in national press and in international magazines including Glamour, Maxim, and Interviu (Spain).

In 2007, he won the Inspired Fashion Photo competition.[3] He subsequently founded the M Calendar, a fashion photography calendar project that gained national attention in Romania and was exhibited at the Anaid Gallery, Bucharest, in February 2008, and at Sala Thalia, Sibiu, later the same year.

Before returning fully to Sibiu, Preda taught primary school and kindergarten children in Apoldu de Jos for one year (2003–2004), following his parents' wishes after completing his university degree.[3]

Founding and development of Feeric Fashion Week (2008–present)

In the summer of 2008, Preda founded what would become Feeric Fashion Week. The idea came to him while spending an evening with friends at Piața Mică (the Small Square) of Sibiu: he envisioned a fashion runway under the night sky and historic lights of the medieval square.[3] Sibiu had been the European Capital of Culture in 2007, and Preda sought to build on that cultural energy by creating a platform for fashion creativity.

The inaugural event, called Feeric Fashion Show, was a one-night outdoor catwalk in Piața Mică, designed to spotlight local fashion talent. The project grew year by year. By its fourth edition, renamed Feeric Fashion Days, it had expanded to a multi-day format featuring fashion shows, exhibitions, conferences, and workshops.[1] A signature characteristic of the event under Preda's creative direction became the use of unconventional locations: runways staged in forests, rural churches, wine cellars, museums, castles, zoos, a zoo, airports, train depots, bunkers, industrial facilities, and historic squares.

Vogue Italia described Preda's approach as follows: "One of the strengths of this fashion event it's definitely its locations: under the direction of founder Mitichi Preda, a little army of photographers, video makers, builders and assistants transformed, each time, the most random places in catwalk-ready settings."[4] Schön Magazine described Feeric as the greatest fashion week in Eastern Europe, and Euronews has covered the event as a media partner.[1][2]

Metal Magazine wrote of Preda that he "is determined to change for the better the future of the industry."[5]

Preda has stated his philosophy of sustainability: "Real change begins before the trash can with conscious consumption, responsibility, and a commitment to reducing waste at the source."[2]

As of its 17th edition in 2025, Feeric Fashion Week hosted designers from more than 20 countries across four continents and was co-financed by the Sibiu City Hall and the Sibiu County Council.[2] International institutional collaborators have included the French Institute, the French Embassy, IED Milan, Euronews, Ford, and others.[2]

In 2011, Preda received the Award for Excellence in Tourism from Romania's Ministry of Development and Tourism, in recognition of Feeric Fashion Week's contribution to cultural tourism.[3]

Feeric Hub (2021–present)

The 2020 edition of Feeric Fashion Week was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, Preda co-founded Apoldist, an e-commerce platform promoting sustainable fashion. Out of the disruption, he developed a longer-term strategy to transform Feeric from a single annual fashion event into an ongoing educational ecosystem.[3]

Feeric Hub was established as a platform to support emerging designers with business knowledge, sustainable production skills, and international networking. The name is an acronym for Fashion Entrepreneurship Education for Romanian and International Creators.[5] Preda has described its mission as changing the future of the fashion industry through education, stating: "Fashion weeks are the last thing a designer should worry about. First, they need to care more about cost, quality, and target."[5]

Feeric Hub has partnered with institutions including IED – Istituto Europeo di Design, NEPI Rockcastle, and Fondazione Sozzani (whose director, Sara Sozzani Maino, also co-founded Vogue Talents).[5][6] Key Feeric Hub initiatives include:

  • CROPS — a sustainable fashion competition and production project for fashion students, culminating in campaign shoots and commercial sales.[7]
  • Hooldra — a recurring upcycling project; its fifth iteration at the 2025 edition incorporated over 3,000 kilograms of locally collected textile waste into both collection and set design.[2]
  • HAIDE — a project integrating Romanian folkloric traditions into contemporary fashion dialogue.[2]

Film: The Fightback (2019–present)

In 2019, Preda began production on a documentary film titled The Fightback, examining how independent European fashion designers resist the pressure of fast fashion while pursuing sustainable production. The project involved travelling through 13 countries and 80 cities across continental Europe, with 31 interviews conducted with designers, showroom owners, factory managers, and university representatives.[8] Filming locations included Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, Antwerp, and cities across Western Europe.

In the film's synopsis, Preda wrote: "I understood this is happening frequently in Eastern Europe, South America and partly in Central Europe because young designers are showcasing collections in our project, so I wanted to understand how the system works in most of the powerful countries in Western Europe."[8]

The film is listed on IMDb with Preda credited as director, writer, and producer, produced through Mitichi Production in association with Numa Film.[9] He is also credited on IMDb for directing Claude Daniel: Tropical, The unseen is essential, and Derek Warburton in Paris.[10]

Public speaking and media appearances

Preda has spoken at international fashion and education forums. He was a featured speaker at Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 in New York City, where he spoke about sustainable fashion in Eastern Europe and the production of The Fightback.[11] He spoke at Speeding Up Slow Fashion 2024, organised by the Institut Français / Ambassade de France en Roumanie in Cluj-Napoca, addressing challenges facing young designers seeking to become sustainable.[12] In 2024, he spoke at Haute École de la Province de Namur (HEPN), Belgium, on digital storytelling in marketing.[13] In 2025, he delivered the Fashion Entrepreneurship lecture series in Kraków (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Bucharest (Romania).[13]

Preda has been interviewed on video by multiple outlets. He was featured twice on Hype, a dedicated culture and fashion programme produced by Euronews România and broadcast on national television, with both interviews also published on the Euronews România YouTube channel.[14][15] He has additionally been interviewed by independent media, including a standalone video interview examining his vision for Feeric Hub and the future of Eastern European fashion.[16]

Euronews România has covered Feeric Fashion Week as an official media partner across multiple editions; Diana Drăgotescu of Euronews Romania participated as a speaker in Feeric Hub's 2025 educational programme.[2]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2019– The Fightback Director, Writer, Producer Documentary; Mitichi Production / Numa Film[9]
— Claude Daniel: Tropical Director/Producer Listed on IMDb[10]
— The unseen is essential Director/Producer Listed on IMDb[10]
— Derek Warburton in Paris Director/Producer Listed on IMDb[10]

Recognition and awards

  • Award for Excellence in Tourism, Ministry of Development and Tourism, Romania, 2011[3]
  • Featured speaker, Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks, New York City, 2020[11]
  • Photographed by Edward Berthelot for Getty Images during Feeric Fashion Week 2021, published in the Getty Images Entertainment collection[17]
  • Featured in Vogue Italia (August 2016), Schön Magazine, Metal Magazine (2024), RED•EYE Magazine (2025), and 33 Magazine[3][5][18]
  • Interviewed on Hype, Euronews România (national television broadcast)[14][15]

References

Sources

  • "Mitichi brings Feeric Fashion Days into our homes". Casino Life & Business Magazine. January 2014.

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Romanian film directors Category:Romanian film producers Category:Romanian photographers Category:Fashion photographers Category:Fashion event organizers Category:People from Sibiu County Category:Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Category:Sustainable fashion advocates Category:Romanian art directors


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