It's a case of she said/she said in the ongoing war over fashion week dates. Mario Boselli of the Camera Nazionale de la Moda claims the "Second Thursday" rule -- fashion weeks would start on the second Thursday of February and September -- was not a permanent solution and provided paperwork to back up his claim while CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg issued an open letter calling for solidarity and an end to the strife. 

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We proved that there was no agreement with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the British Fashion Council regarding the three years 2012-2013-2014, and that, in any case, the postponement of a week for the dates of September 2012 was not on the table, said Boselli.

Fashion week in Milan next year, Sept. 19th-25th, will directly conflict with New York and London --  Sept. 13th-20th and Sept. 21st-25th, respectively. With more than a bit of spite, Milan blames the CFDA for moving NYFW a week later than in previous years and if they were to follow suit, Italian designers wouldn't be able to satisfy production needs.

Boselli also finds accusations that the Italians are not honoring its commitments as "an aggressive and arrogant stance towards the CNMI" since they had set their 2012 dates in March of last year.

DVF, in an open letter to the fashion community, reasserts the CFDA's stance on the "Second Thursday" rule:

Editors, retailers and designers  like the consistency of every designer always showing on the same day of the week season after season. It makes it so much easier for everyone to plan and attend shows...We did not change from the agreement we reached of starting Fashion Season in New York on the same day every year...I also believe this conflict is a misunderstanding. I am convinced it will be resolved and that the agreement that was made 3 years ago at great cost and effort is valid and will be kept.

President of France's Chambre Syndicale, Didier Grumbach, also thinks that this is all just one big misunderstanding, though he agrees with Boselli that the rule was only temporary: We always said that it is impossible to plan anything beyond three years as you never know what kind of events might come up...The idea was always that we would meet up again once the three-year time period was up.

If all this back and forth between everyone is confusing, matters got a whole lot messier when the CFDA and the BFC sent letters to Italian designers asking to help Boselli and Grumbach "stick to this agreement and maintain the current flow of dates. Those designers, for their part, wholeheartedly support the CNMI.

For now, it looks like no one is backing down though von Furstenberg is still holding out hope for a compromise. [WWD, WWD -- sub req'd]