Fashion in the time of Coronavirus: Gucci has announced plans to eradicate the traditional fashion calendar.
Last week, Gucci fashion house announced they would be scaling back their fashion shows to a bi-annual event. This comes in the wake of a serious evaluation from couture houses to re-evaluate the traditional system for fashion shows, seasons, and openings for new collections.
In a statement to Gucci’s 40.5 million followers, designer Alessandro Michele took to Instagram to explain how he plans to ”abandon the worn-out ritual of seasonality’s and shows to regain a new cadence, closer to expressive call.”
Ever since the pandemic forced fashion weeks across the globe to pause, fashion houses have been placed under increasing pressure to change the way fashion companies big and small approach to the traditional system. With the news that Gucci has announced a serious re-evaluation of how they are planning on moving forward, it will force other couture houses to think similarly with now added pressure.
French fashion house Saint Laurent has also recently announced their plans to skip Paris Fashion Week this coming September and to alter its schedule to accommodate easier and safer ways for showcasing new collections for the rest of the year.
Since Gucci’s announcement, a forum lead by Belgian designer Dries Van Noten has made suggestions to completely reinvent the fashion system, prompting questions at who will speak up next. LVMH, who own luxury companies such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, and Celine are yet to comment on these new ideas but no doubt, they will be forced to re-think the fashion calendar for the foreseeable future to accommodate to government guidelines worldwide during this time of uncertainty.
Words by Grace Dembowicz
Graphics by Katie Janes
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