In The Middle
Image: medium.com
Is There a Future for Fashion Week? During the many fashion weeks hosted across the world throughout the year, cities are taken storm by a flood of journalists, models, designers, photographers and influencers, hectically commuting between an endless schedule of shows. Initially orchestrated behind closed doors for buyers, Fashion Week has since metamorphosed into a seemingly incessant ballet, with pre-collections, cruise collections, haute couture and women’s and men’s fashion weeks all part of this choreographed routine. But when the coronavirus crisis forced brands to seek new ways to present their collections outside of the traditional runway format, the question of whether there is really a need for physical fashion weeks was brought onto the table. The idea of an industry without fashion weeks isn’t exactly a brand new phenomenon. Last summer, environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion called for an end to London Fashion Week, staging a funeral for LFW in the city’s streets, with posters emblazoned with statements like ‘No Fashion on a Dead Planet’ and ‘Fashion=Ecocide’ serving as a stark reminder of the detrimental environmental impact of the industry. And though luxury fashion doesn’t perpetuate throw-away attitudes towards clothes in the same way that fast-fashion does, it’s certainly not free of blame when it comes to the impact of production, not just of the clothes themselves, but of the continuous cycle of shows that take place across the globe. Take cruise collections, for example, where the industry’s major fashion houses fly thousands of influencers and fashion personnel across the planet to specially-selected holiday locations, all for a 10-minute runway show. In an age where sustainability is at the centre of almost every conversation in the industry, it seems pretty bizarre. Not to mention the impact of this vicious cycle, where creativity is stifled by the pressure of creating constant newness, on the mental wellbeing of designers. The pandemic has compelled brands to take a new approach to showcasing their collections- shifting to digital formats out of necessity, but equally minimising the cost, waste and emissions that usually go into creating a runway show. For Gucci’s digital show in July, creative director Alessandro Michele invited the designers who created the garments to wear their own creations, offering a livestream runway accompanied by a 76-look catalogue of mens- and womenswear designs. But so far, only a few shows have really resonated - such as Jonathon Anderson’s ‘Show in a Box’ for Loewe, which celebrated creative process and craftsmanship,
20
or Maison Margiela’s 50-minute film which gave a behind-the-scenes look at the way a collection comes together - and engagement has dropped significantly in comparison to real-life shows. You only have to look at the power a runway show has to elevate a brand’s status - take Jacquemus’ viral SS20 collection, unveiled on a train of fuschia within a sea of lavender in the heart of Provence last summer - to recognise how fundamental they are to the industry. If digital shows are going to have the same impact as real life runways, brands need to do more than simply copy and paste the traditional formula online, and go beyond simply livestreaming a private runway. While there are those brands looking to embrace new formats and technologies, breaking away from tradition, others didn’t hesitate to make a swift return to the physical runway. In July, Dior presented its Resort 2021 show in Lecce, Italy, meanwhile influencers gathered in a field of wheat near Paris for Jacquemus’ ever-aesthetically-pleasing runway show. Copenhagen Fashion Week became the first post-lockdown city to host a significant schedule of IRL runway shows, with exhibitions, presentations and runways adapted to Covid-19 regulations. Meanwhile, this month’s Spring/Summer 2021 fashion weeks are set to feature a mix of physical and digital shows, with brands like Simone Rocha and Roksanda showing their collections in person at London Fashion Week - with social-distancing guidelines in place, of course. In any case, it’s clear that many brands just aren’t ready to break up completely with the traditional runway format. When physical fashion shows have long been seen as the ultimate fashion experience and height of creativity, if digital shows are the future, it’s going to take time for generations of both designers and consumers to adjust to this new way of consuming fashion. What’s clear is that the pre-Covid model of fashion weeks is unsustainable, both for designers and the planet. The fashion industry mirrors the cultural zeitgeist, but also plays an important role in creating it - if fashion weeks could evolve to become a platform for celebrating the visual and artistic aspects of fashion, embracing both physical and digital forms of presentation, while simultaneously promoting a message of sustainability rather than one of overconsumption, the future of fashion shows - and the planet - could look a little brighter.
Ruby McAuliffe
