September hybrid fashion week

Fashion becomes physical again. Paris Fashion Week is the next step on the digital fashion calendar. The event is set to take place with digital shows starting next week, July 6-13, but a return to physical gateways has been announced before these shows even have a chance to light up our laptop screens.

The French capitals kick off with the Haute Couture fashion shows from July 6 to 8, and the men and women fashion shows continue until July 13. But the Federation of Haute Couture Fashion (FHCM), the country’s governing body for fashion, has already announced a return to physical events for Paris Fashion Week SS21 from September 28 to October 6.

The organization has declared that it will comply with the recommendations of the public authorities for its implementation. And that the event will be supported by a dedicated digital platform.

It seems that a hybrid mix of physical events, alongside digital windows, is the trend to note for the coming season.

The first digital London Fashion Week took place from June 12-14.

It has garnered mixed reviews for focusing on the end consumer rather than purchasing. The designers made their presence known through various forms of presentations, from abstract and arty videos that contained little or no new product to the new collections revealed by video or photography.

Back on the track

The digital version of Milan Fashion Week will follow in Paris from July 14 to 17, while the physical event will take place from September 22 to 28.

The Italian brand Etro will broadcast live the SS21 men and pre-SS21 women collections of the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan during this digital fashion week in July, before a limited number of guests. Its designers Kean and Veronica Etro said in a statement:

We appreciate the importance of digital but also believe in the vital energy of live interactions. We are happy to involve our clients in a real experience, in full compliance with the safety standards and public health regulations in force, while being able to virtually reach a wider audience.

Italy was one of the countries hardest hit by Covid-19, and social distancing measures are still in place, with people having to maintain a distance of 1.5 m. He lifted the restrictions on June 3 and the population can now travel within the country and in Europe.

The anticipated announcement of the return of Paris Fashion Week on the catwalk is due to the virtual lifting of lock-out measures in France. Travel within Europe is allowed without quarantine, although a social distance of more than one meter is still in place, and face masks should be worn where distance is not possible. Initially, restaurants in the capital were only allowed to serve people outside to maximize social distancing, but consumers have been allowed to eat inside since June 3. Non-essential trade was authorized to open in France in mid-May with measures of social distance of one meter.

Some brands are eager to return to the podium.

Dior will host its 2021 cruise on July 22 in the city of Lecce, in southern Italy, in the Apulia region, which will be presented behind closed doors. It will be broadcast continuously and made available to the public. Dior indicated that the show will be presented exclusively online and respecting the safety measures in force which will be very rigorously respected.

London Fashion Week will also mix digital and physical for SS21. A spokesperson for the British Fashion Council (BFC) told Drapers:

London Fashion Week in September will continue, and we envision that it will be a hybrid of digital and physical depending on whether the creators wish to host fashion shows or presentations. We are currently in conversation with the designers to understand what their plans are.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lifting of a series of restrictions from July 4, but only six households are still allowed to meet, while maintaining a distance of at least one meter, which is in stark contrast to the participants traditionally stuffed shoulder to shoulder for shows. There is much more lifting of the lockdown to be done before September, if fashion weeks around the world are to look like themselves.

In New York, intimate presentations could be the cards for September, the CFDA told Drapers:

We recommend that programming for this season only be digital. In conversations with designers, most indicated that they would take this direction, but a few mentioned holding lounge-style meetings for groups under the age of 10.

While designer JW Anderson, who showed off his menswear collection in Paris for the AW20, went naughty this week.

He launched the SS21 for men and pre-SS21 for women collections on his Instagram page, before the start of the digital version of Paris Fashion Week, calling the launch “an act of challenge” to the restrictions put in place by the coronavirus, in an accompanying video on the social networking site.

Instead of models, he displayed the ranges on mannequin bodies with metal feet. It remains to be seen whether the designers will go solo and make their debut outside of specific fashion week deadlines once the physical events take place.

Who will we see in September?

British brand Burberry (main image, above) has confirmed that it will hold a physical presentation on September 17, outside in the British countryside and broadcast digitally, for a program called Burberry in Nature.

Creative director Ricardo Tisci said:

As humans, we have always had a deep affinity with nature. We had to respect and count on its power for our very existence, while marveling and reveling in its extraordinary beauty. Especially recently, we have all aspired to reconnect. For this show, I wanted to celebrate these feelings by bringing our community together in a creative experience that takes place in the beautiful natural landscape of Great Britain.

Although no announcement has yet been made, Chanel is another luxury brand that may want to return to the podium. While others have fled the traditional calendar, Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanels fashion show activities, said in an interview following the presentation of the 2021 cruise labels that: We think it’s important to do these shows . We must still have the freedom of creation to express each moment.

Fendi confirmed the opening of Milan Fashion Week with a physical parade which is now taking place in Rome on September 22. It will take place in the same building that houses its headquarters, the Palazzo della Civilt Italiana. The transition from the fashion capital to the current capital of Italy shows that Fendi embraces the scope that a digital presence makes it possible not to force brands to traditional fashion cities by broadcasting the show worldwide. Brand CEO Serge Brunschwig said in a WWD interview published in mid-June that the show will consist of a physical event, with a limited number of guests and a digital component, the format of which is being defined. .

Who will go missing in September?

A brand that will be missing from the September calendar is Saint Laurent, owned by Kering. The French label was the first to depart from the traditional parade calendar, declaring in April that it will not present its collections in the pre-established 2020 hours. Saint Laurent will take over its calendar and launch its collections according to a plan designed with an up-to-date perspective, driven by creativity.

Gucci followed suit shortly after in May. Creative director Alessandro Michele publishes on Instagram that it will only be broadcast twice a year, instead of his usual six shows. It remains to be seen if Gucci chooses September for its new semi-annual calendar, although it does participate in the Milans digital event on July 17.

Belgian designer Dries Van Noten, who was the figurehead of the open letter to the industry demanding changes to delivery and runway times, will not be broadcast in his usual Paris time slot. Michael Kors has also withdrawn from the New York Fashion Week calendar, instead presenting SS21 in October through a medium that has not yet been announced.

As we exit the lockout, fashion quickly returns to a physical presence. Drapers’ verdict on London Fashion Week digital was that it would never compare to the real deal, and it seems that the whole industry agrees that fashion shows require a physical presence.

Whether this show will be seen firsthand by a current audience remains uncertain for this year. The brand and fashion governing bodies have learned digital skills learned out of necessity, and what follows is a combination of physical events showcasing new products, with the global reach that digital format allows for what should be win-win. to reach both the industry and the end consumer.

And given more time to adapt to work in unprecedented circumstances, brands and designers will have had the opportunity to formulate a concise plan for digital events that could evolve from short abstract videos seen during Fashion Week from London, with full collections showing new products, it will be worth it for buyers and consumers to connect.