According to a Vogue Business article we have come to the end of an era, and the fashion show, as we know it, is over. Hence, it’s very likely that the 2020 Fall/Winter shows held in Paris this March were the last of their kind, at least for several years from now on. And fashion shows have been going on for a long long time… dating back to the 1860s actually, when English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth used live models instead of mannequins for the first time to present his creations in Paris.
“I think this is a start of a new era and we will never go back to the way it was before,” says Alexandre de Betak, founder of ‘Bureau Betak’, which is the production company behind the shows of fashion houses like Christian Dior, Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Michael Kors, Rodarte and many more. Several industry experts seem to be sharing the same opinion in saying that fashion shows in their traditional format aren’t expected to return post Covid-19.
Apparently fashion shows and presentations will rely more on methods offered by digital technology and less on actual events with flesh and blood people seated in the audience. Due to the pandemic it seems that some fashion brands will be showing their new collections digitally this summer. And not just any brands. A couple of days ago, Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele announced that the fashion house will go season-less, showing its collections only twice a year. But he is not the first one to go against tradition. Last year, much before the coronavirus, Jacquemus opted to show outside the normal fashion calendar and held his Spring/Summer 2020 show in a gorgeous blooming lavender field in Provence in June. Some brands are even experimenting with remotely directed photo shoots with models in their own homes.
I guess until a vaccine is in place and it isn’t yet clear whether and when models, stylists, photographers, make-up artists, etc. can travel in order to gather for a photo shoot or any fashion evens, international fashion houses will keep experimenting what digital options they have in order to stay on top of the situation. Well not sure about you, but I am definitely curious to see what exciting new ideas everyone will come up with. Until then, here’s some of my favourite gorgeous images from last year’s Jacquemus fashion show.
