A Digital Fashion Week by Andra Maier
The fashion industry is notoriously known for not being inclusive - for not opening its doors to many, and once you are in, you do anything you can to not be kicked out. It’s harsh, hard to get your foot in the door, and a lot of times fuelled by a toxic work environment. On the other hand, it is also a place full of creativity, which accepts a lot, which pushes you to your limits to give out your best. And, in a weird way, it pushes you to want to stay and showcase what you learn. I wanted to be part of the industry for a long time, but I think the lockdown period has truly opened my eyes to a lot of things that I have previously ignored - the main one being how fashion is not as digital as it could be.
We are all familiar with the amazing fashion shows in fantastic locations; with sumptuous creations going down a catwalk on models who look ethereal, with a lot of people in black uniform running around like headless chickens making sure everyone and everything is accounted for. I am one of those people running around, and whilst on one hand I am incredibly lucky to have access to all the backstage and background information that I see, it’s only people who never work fashion shows who absolutely love and fantasise about them. Fashion month is one of the most gruelling moments of the year: I wish the word ‘month’ could take the singular form, but the shows actually take almost 6 months out of the year. September and February are the biggest ‘months’ showcasing Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter womenswear collections 6 months in advance of the items hitting stores. However, if your brand has a menswear collection, you become busy in January and June as well. If you are incredibly lucky and work for a massive fashion brand, you most likely have a Haute Couture collection, which means that January and July are also booked. On top of this, if your brand shows a Couture collection, they most likely will have a Pre-Fall and a Resort collection (for those who live on a yacht when it’s cold outside, and only ever experience late autumn before tanning somewhere exotic). This means that your year looks somewhat similar to the following:
January
Menswear Autumn-Winter Collections starting in London, then going to Milan and Paris
Second Week of January – Pitti Immagine Uomo important menswear and men’s accessories platform used often to launch new collections or projects during Men’s Fashion Week
Once Paris Menswear Fashion Week is finished, Haute Couture Fashion Week begins, held for around a week and a half in Paris
Once that is done, one has a few days off before New York Fashion Week starts at the end of January
February
At the start of February London Fashion Week begins, continuing with Milan Fashion Week and finishes with Paris Fashion Week at the start of March
March & April
Used for pushing those collections in media for the summer months, as everything is done fairly in advance (around 3 months in advance minimum)
May
Usually marks the launch of Pre-Fall collections
June
Marks Menswear Fashion Week for the Spring-Summer Collections, starting in London, going to Milan and finishing in Paris
Mid-June sees press arrive in Florence once again for Pitti Uomo this time, same celebrations as in January
One has around a two week break here, then Haute Couture Fashion Week starts again in Paris
July
Marks the start of Haute Couture Fashion Week
August
The time you can take a break (finally)
September
Womenswear Spring-Summer collections are here once again, starting in New York, then going to London, then to Milan and finishing in Paris
October & November
Pushing the collections for when they hit stores later in the year - and sometimes catching a break here too
December
Christmas is here, with a tiny break, but also with some resort for all of us
As you can see, there is something going on every single month, and now we are in September, THE fashion month everyone knows about, because let’s be real, we are always more excited about summer clothes than we are about winter ones. Due to the current lockdown restrictions, over the past few months, we have missed a few critical showcase moments whilst working from home. Fashion councils and federations around the globe have looked at ways to showcase new collections without all the travel and Instagram moments. Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba broke Instagram when she showcased her collection on digital models. Not only did these digital models have great figures which were super body-positive and looked like regular people you could see on the street, but the clothes had amazing movement and gave us a glimpse into the post-pandemic fashion world (CNN.com).
This way of showcasing clothes makes fashion people ask themselves a lot of questions, especially about the fate of models who get into magazines by being seen on catwalks. What will happen to their usual jobs? In an industry which is constantly under scrutiny for not treating models properly, amongst other workers, this begs the question - what will their jobs look like, and how safe shows can shows be, even with closed doors?
Considering what the backstage of a show normally looks like, there is no question of social distancing being properly enforced: there are far too many people crammed in small enclosed spaces with lights, make-up, hair and dressing done in tiny spaces with too many people around fawning over the models at all times. The question of digitizing fashion weeks has been on our lips for a few seasons now, but I truly believe that to be honest, we love the travel and the running like headless chickens, and the glitz and the glamour with little sleep which happens so many times a year. I do have a deep belief that anybody who works in fashion must be at least a tiny bit masochistic to go through this so many times a year, because fashion month is one of the most exhausting processes you can ever go through. If you come out of this alive, you are one of the lucky ones: people change industries after going through fashion week with a big brand because of how physically and emotionally exhausting it is. Having a digital version of this would make a PR’s life so much easier, but I might be speaking too soon, because we do love to find ways to make our lives harder when things should be easy and straightforward.
On top of most sustainable working hours and more efficient processes, there is the question of environmental sustainability. Fashion is the third biggest polluting industry in the world, mainly because of the shows which happen so many times a year. The fuel used to fly the media into the shows, the disposable plastic (masks, gloves, hair pins, face products, water bottles, food packaging, etc), catwalk plastic wrapping, plastic clothing wrapping for transportation, plastic wristbands, and lost pens all contribute to this pollution journey. And this is before you factor in all those clothes that make it to the landfill.
One great example of the fashion industry tackling this problem is Copenhagen Fashion Week. Although this fashion week is not one of the big 4 mentioned above, it is known as the ‘Sustainable Fashion Week’, and only allows certain brands to participate, as long as they reach certain sustainable standards. This is mostly only attainable for brands which have manageable production chains - which usually is impossible to achieve for a brand the size of Dior, but easier to achieve for a brand the size of Cecilie Bahnsen (if you haven’t heard of her, please see here).
Many of the bigger brands which have significant carbon footprints have also signed the Fashion Pact in order become more sustainable and transparent. The majority of the pact focuses on garment production, which is one of the most unsustainable of practices, and also one of the most dangerous - especially for fast fashion brands who use third party suppliers to employ child-labour in the most dangerous of conditions (check the Rana Plaza disaster, which 7 years on still doesn’t show that much has changed). Of course, fast fashion brands don’t showcase at big fashion weeks on most occasions, however, they do have the money and the spending power to do so, and digitising their shows could be a step forward in the right direction.
As the pandemic has pushed the boundaries of what we thought possible - particularly for an industry notoriously known to resist change - we don’t know what the future holds. We can look forward to September, one of the most anticipated months in the fashion calendar and learn how we can do better, be better, and put people’s lives less in danger. February marked a moment of sudden awakening with many fashion editors coming from Milan and Paris and ‘importing’ the virus to their homes, and September is the time to right that wrong. Finally we can see how this showcasing system - that was once the biggest thing of the year - can be more sustainable from all angles. We can only wait and see, and hope that we are going in the right direction. We should look at more solutions to offset all the bad parts of fashion, transform them for good.
Written by Andra Maier
Working in fashion teaches you a lot of things, but it leaves little space for creativity outside of work, because we are ‘always available’. Having a creative space is something important in my ‘switching off’ process, and writing comes easiest, especially in busy times. I love everything fashion and food related. If I am not found writing or scribbling, I am found reading the latest fiction releases, fan-girling over Harry Potter or some pretty shoes, and writing for my blog. Being able to express myself outside of work boundaries is freeing and incredible, and honing the creative spirit is one of the main resolutions I had for 2020.