Fashion house Burberry announced they are replacing a four-show season with two shows that will be more “seasonless, immediate and personal”. These fashion shows in September and February will have collections for both men and women that will be available for purchase immediately after viewing. What’s behind this trend?
A desire for immediate of purchase, the ubiquity of social media and seasonless fashion are shaping the new fashion industry.
Luxury designers like Burberry are rethinking the way they reach consumers to adapt to the world of online shopping and social media. In today’s world, the fashion headlines are daily, not seasonal, and are shaped by bloggers and celebrities, rather than magazines like Vogue. Fashion shows are increasingly seen as outdated. The daily catwalk is Instagram. And fashion is shared instantly on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. The time between the introduction of collections and the ability to purchase needs to be shortened from the old system of a six-month lag. The collections lose the momentum created during the runway show.
Diane Von Furstenberg skipped the runway completely this year. She presented her collection at a party in her offices, featuring vignettes with models wearing the clothes in real life situations.
Burberry has made a strong commitment to digital to create immediate gratification for shoppers. Burberry has made sure they are on all the social media platforms including smaller ones like Periscope and Snapchat.
Runway shows for fashion houses are live streamed. The exclusivity is gone. Kanye West’s opening of New York Fashion Week was watched by a staggering 20 million people via live stream, while London Fashion Week shows are apparently broadcast to 60 outdoor locations around the UK. Luxury retailers are not trying to emulate the fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M, but they are recognizing the desire for immediate purchase.
We live in a world where we spend time in artificially cold or warm environments thanks to air-conditioning and central heating and clear demarcations between the seasons are not as apparent. Climate change, a growing global market for high fashion, and travel makes seasonless fashion more important. When it’s winter in Britain, it’s summer in Australia.
Disruption has even hit fashion.
