The pandemic has hit the world in a cruel way – and the fashion industry couldn’t stay behind concerning the new normal. Therefore, many Fashion Week organizations decided to skip their real life editions this year. Rather, the new normal in fashion is online – without the fear of spreading an unwelcome virus. Find an overview of the changes made to London Fashion Week here.
Cover photo: © Unsplash
London Fashion Week
The British Fashion Council just announced that it will merge London Fashion Week women’s and men’s edition into one gender-neutral digital platform, beginning at June 12. With this initiative, the British Fashion Council shows its willingness to adapt to the current situation, combined with creating a more sustainable, diverse and inclusive alternative to traditional fashion weeks. To Bazar, Caroline Rush, BFC chief executive explained why this is so important: “The current pandemic is leading us all to reflect more poignantly on the society we live in and how we want to live our lives and build businesses when we get through this.” We couldn’t agree more.
Fashion manifesto
Together with CFDA, the British Fashion Council announced a fashion manifesto with several important messages. The most important one was about creating less and making pieces longer lasting. According to BFC and CFDA it isn’t longer necessary to make summer collections available during winter and vice verse. In short, their main points of focus were as following.
CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL LONDON FASHION WEEK SCHEDULE HERE.
- The fashion system must change, and it must happen at every level.
- We encourage our brands, designers and retailers to slow down. For a long time, there have been too many deliveries and too much merchandise generated.
- The delivery cadence should shift closer to the season for which it is intended.
- We strongly recommend designers focus on no more than two main collections a year.
- Once this crisis is over and non-virtual events can resume, we also recommend that brands attempt to show during the regular fashion calendar and in one of the global fashion capitals in order to avoid the strain on buyers and journalists travelling constantly.
- Through the creation of less product, with higher levels of creativity and quality, products will be valued and their shelf life will increase.
Find the entire manifesto here.
London Fashion Week schedule 2020
However, it’s still uncertain how London Fashion Week will shape the online event. There’s no fashion week schedule yet – perhaps, this won’t even be necessary. Hopefully, the event will be full of live sessions, inspiring people and brands and lots of sustainable fashion. To be continued.
Keep an eye on this page to stay up to date about the changes at London Fashion Week.
Also read: The long-term effects of COVID-19 on the fashion industry
