This week the fashion world just got a whole lot more exciting.
If you aren’t aware of the surprise news I’m referring to, it was announced this week that two titans of the fashion world, Burberry and Tom Ford, are breaking with the traditional fashion calendar.
Not only will Burberry, who were the first fashion house to make the announcement, show both their mens and womens collections together, but they also announced that their Autumn/ Winter collections will be shown in September, rather than at the upcoming fashion weeks as per usual. Following Burberry’s shock announcement on the 5th February, Tom Ford, another style heavy weight who has dressed a glittering array of superstar clientele, also announced that he was cancelling his coming show in New York, in favour of showing his collection in September too.
If you’re unfamiliar with the workings of the fashion calendar, you may be sitting here thinking ‘so what?.. next article.’ But don’t click on that article about hot netflix shows just yet! This shift means more than just a change in when the daily mail will be publishing those photos of the twinkly frow (that’s fashionista slang for front row FYI), gathered in London, Paris and New York. The really exciting part about this is the fact that the main innovation here, and innovation it is indeed, is that Burberry and Tom Ford’s collections will be available in stores and online for purchase as soon as the show is over- a move to what Vogue have described as ‘see-now-buy immediately’ collections.
Indeed, despite the fact that the changes made by the two designers came out of the blue for the majority of us who just like a good flick through the glossies, its hardly surprising that the fashion industry is making these changes. In the past, fashion shows weren’t primarily an instagram opportunity or internet fodder; they were for buyers to select pieces and editors to filter through the latest trends and decide what to show to the masses in their magazines, before the collections hit the stores six months later. However, with the rise of technology, the nature and arguably the purpose of the shows have changed.
The best example of this is Chanel: the shows are more than just a catwalk, with the most astonishing and elaborate sets created in some of the most iconic sites in Paris, like the latest set dubbed ‘Karl’s Doll house’ in the Grand Palais. Fashion shows recently have become a display of the brand, the concept, and the lifestyle, with live music to complete the whole spectacle- if you don’t remember Lily Allen’s performance at the Chanel show a few years ago- check out the video.
So actually, it makes perfect sense for Burberry and Tom Ford to make these changes. I think that this move is only a good thing. Its encouraging to see that the fashion industry is, quite aptly, keeping up with the times and adapting to a society in which everything is only a click away and things are accessible almost instantaneously.
Sadly, my budget doesn’t stretch to Tom Ford and Burberry prices, but if it did I would definitely be doing some excited online shopping after their September shows.