Pratishtha Rana
The spotlight is on international fashion calendars. A host of leading luxury houses has withdrawn from traditional runway schedules. The aim is to discontinue the practice of piling up unnecessary couture and prêt clothing and embrace a more conscious approach to fashion, which is to slow down production.
One pressing concern is also the lockdown-triggered business closures, which have amassed inventory and reduced sales. And for the luxury fashion giants, the only way out is to play smart.
Gucci, Saint Laurent and Michael Kors are writing a new chapter in the world of fashion.
Read: Fashion designers should make fewer pieces to sustain in the long run, FDCI’s Sunil Sethi
Gucci
Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele, last month, put out a series of his diary entries titled Notes from the Silence, informing the fashion world of the brand’s decision to permanently stop showcasing five times a year. Instead, Gucci will show its collections twice a year at irregular intervals. He says, “I will abandon the worn-out ritual of seasonalities…We will meet just twice a year, to share the chapters of a new story.”
View this post on Instagram
Michael Kors
NYFW 2020 will not witness the creations of Michael Kors on the runway. The American designer has instead announced to showcase his Spring/Summer 2021 collection in October or November this year. Forgoing the past cycle, the designer will work on only two collections a year, Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter.
In an official press statement, he said that he had long been thinking about a needed change in the fashion calendar, “It’s exciting for me to see the open dialogue within the fashion community — from Giorgio Armani to Dries Van Noten to Gucci to YSL to major retailers around the globe—about ways in which we can slow down the process and improve the way we work. I think many agree that it’s time for a new approach for a new era.”
View this post on Instagram
Saint Laurent
French Maison Saint Laurent too declared its plans to exit Paris Fashion Week’20 set for the showcase of Spring 2021 RTW collection. In an Instagram post, the subsidiary of luxury group Kering said, “Now more than ever, the brand will lead its own rhythm…Saint Laurent will not present its collections in any of the pre-set schedules of 2020.”
View this post on Instagram
Giorgio Armani
According to an announcement by the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, Giorgio Armani will not be a part of the first-ever Milano Digital Fashion Week in July, which will present Spring/Summer 2021 menswear and womenswear collections. The maison will unveil the menswear line in Milan Fashion Week in September, in sync with the season, instead of showing pre-collections.
In the early days of the outbreak of Covid-19 in February, Giorgio Armani presented his A/W’20 collection at Milan Fashion Week without any audience in physical attendance. He instead chose to livestream the show on social media.
View this post on Instagram
Dries van Noten
Last month in May, Belgian designer Dries van Noten along with a group of prominent designers Marine Serre and Gabriela Hearst and retailers Nordstrom, Harvey Nichols and Bergdorf Goodman issued an open letter to the fashion industry, asking to streamline the runway launch of collections, end of season sales and deliveries in accordance to the real-world seasons and consumer needs.
Read: This is how the business of luxury fashion will change post Covid19
View this post on Instagram
According to an article by WWD, Noten in a Zoom meeting said, “It is not normal to buy winter clothes in May. It doesn’t make sense to me… And it is not respectful to the customer who buys at full price to see it marked down 50 per cent six weeks later.”
This petition can be found on ForumLetter.org.
