What is the future of fashion? Goodbye to seasonal collections as designers abandon the runway calendar
Reflections and decisions post lockdown. International designers and fashion houses are abandoning the fashion runway calendar in favor of new ideas and types of events
'I will abandon the worn-out ritual of seasonalities' were the words posted by Alessandro Michele on his Instagram page, commenting on Gucci's decision to leave the runway calendar. The decision was communicated during one of the most intense weeks during phase 2 of lockdown. All the fashion insiders are in fact looking at how to define fashion post COVID-19, and not just in terms of trends. More often than not, journalists, influencers and buyers are asking themselves what the next fashion weeks will be like, what form they will take in the fashion system and the type of content. And it is not only a question of if one is inside or outside the canonical calendar: the reflection involves the seasonality of the collections which today seems almost obsolete. Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter have become labels themselves, seeing the numbers of capsule collections, fashion drops and an atmospheric seasonality that is no longer classic (hot springs and falls, summers full of thunderstorms).
According to Gucci, collections no longer need to have a seasonal connotation 'I would like to leave behind the paraphernalia of leitmotifs that colonized our prior world: cruise, pre-fall, spring-summer, fall-winter. I think these are stale and underfed words. Labels of an impersonal discourse that lost its meaning'. A project would include a musical title 'symphonies, rhapsodies, madrigals, nocturnes, overtures, concerts and minutes in the constellation of my creative path'. Fashion returns to being pure creativity, an expression of itself. The lockdown prioritized important reflections; a time dedicated to a new revolution that is a long way away from the frantic digital rhythms.
Other brands that have taken different paths compared to the one already laid out: Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, has in fact decided to leave the Paris fashion Week. In the meantime, many fashion houses will present the menswear collections at the same time as the women's in September, others are in favor of a digital fashion week. In fact, a fashion week digitale. has been the solution to Milan Fashion week in order to show the collections to Chinese buyers who have been in quarantine since February.
Also, at the forefront is Giorgio Armani who, other than demonstrating sensitivity to combatting Coronavirus, he has used significant words on the fashion of the future. The designer hopes to abandon the crazy rhythm in favor of fashion that is more creative, of quality and produced with a level of awareness. An opportunity that is worth seizing.
Similarly, Michael Kors announced he will be saying farewell to New York Fashion Week in favor of a presentation for his spring summer 2021 collection between October and November. The decision is the result of careful reflection on how the fashion system must change 'Prior to the late 1990s, the New York spring collections were shown from late October to the beginning of November, after the Paris collections. That calendar was in place for many decades and worked quite smoothly, and particularly in this age with the speed of social media, showing the collection closer to when it will be delivered makes logical sense to me.'.
Lastly, Dries Van Noten and Thom Browne, together with 250 other signatories (stylists but also retailers, CEOs, entrepreneurs) have asked the system to join forces to find new shared solutions.
