Many brands are saying "adieu" to runway shows, may it be the end of fashion weeks?
Demna and VLONE quitted, who else will follow?
June 7th, 2017
Yesterday, A$AP Bari sent to hell Paris fashion week’s participation, denying via Twitter the opportunity to present the new VLONE collection with a pop-up store in the City of Lights.
A few days before was Demna Gvasalia’s turn announcing the decision to leave the fashion week, who, speaking with Vogue’s Sarah Mower, declared:
"I got bored. I think [Vetements] needs to enter a new chapter. Fashion shows are not the best tool. We did the show in the sex club, the restaurant, the church. We brought forward the season, we showed men’s and women’s together. It’s become repetitive and exhausting".
The new Georgian guru of the fashion world will, however, plan for an exhibition in Paris in Paris on July 1, details of which are yet to be defined.
Is that another sign of the death of fashion weeks?
Maybe. In recent years, it is often discussed about the real value of this instrument: is it still necessary in the era of hyperconnection to organize events that are so short, expensive and dedicated to a limited audience? Is there still innovation and hype or just mediocrity and repetitiveness?
Designers, retailers, journalists complain and organizers respond by shortening the Fashion Week's lifetime, but not enough to stop the increasing exodus of brands in search of a solution that satisfies everyone and, at the same time, keeps their products desirable. Someone like Alexander Wang or Burberry adopt the “see now buy now” formula, which gives you the opportunity to buy just a few hours from the parade, items, and accessories just presented. Still others like Gucci decide to blend man and woman collections, also highlighting the contemporary reality of no gender. Someone opt for parades in original locations far different from those crowded by the fashionistas crowd, as Gosha Rubchinskiy did in Russia in January with his Kaliningrad or J.W.Anderson show in Florence for Pitti Uomo.
Something is changing in the fashion world, and the fashion weeks are a thermometer of this change. All the runway glamor may just be outdated as format and need a revolution, who will invoke the most practical and cool solution will win. Any idea?