fashionweeks

Update To The Fashion Calendar

Fashion Week Dates for September – October 2024


In a collaborative effort to streamline the workflow, the organizations responsible for New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks have released an update to the fashion calendar. You might wonder why only now. What has changed? 

Having worked in the industry for over 25 years, it was apparent to us that industry leaders operated in isolation. Or we should say, one against the other. Indeed, councils released dates without considering the impact on buyers, showrooms, exhibitors, and everyone in the field who faced the challenge of flying from one city to another on a very tight schedule. The absence of a collaborative approach has always been evident.

What’s new


In a joint statement, the British Fashion Council (BFC), Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) informed they are collaborating on the 2024/25 fashion week dates 2025 for the four major fashion capitals; New York, London, Milan and Paris. 

In order to avoid overlaps and create synchrony for the fashion calendar, the councils have met to set agreements on the start and end dates of each fashion week. Following ongoing discussions between the organisations, the decision aims to benefit the trade audience travelling between the cities as well as the on-schedule designers. So says the press release.

Fashion weeks serve as global showcases for designers, relying on an international presence to amplify the work of participating brands. The councils collectively aim to prioritise the guest experience and ensure that designers receive maximum exposure to the travelling trade audience.

September 2024 womenswear: the new fashion calendar


The below dates have been agreed upon unanimously by the BFC, CNMI, CFDA and FHCM. 

NEW YORK 
Friday 6th September – Wednesday 11th September 

LONDON 
Thursday 12th September (from 5 pm)– Tuesday 17th September (until 12 pm)

MILAN 
Tuesday 17th September (from 3 pm) – Monday 23rd September

PARIS 
Monday 23rd September – Tuesday 1st October 

Conclusion


Eventually, the time has come for the long-overdue update to the fashion calendar. When one fashion week ends, the next can start. Simple, right? So why did it take so long to reach this point?

The fashion industry is complex, involving various groups, activities, and forces. Of course, a collaborative approach is fundamental to achieving the best possible results for everyone involved. But, to give you a sense of how collaborative fashion industry leaders are, consider that it took a pandemic, months of luxury slowdown, and warehouses packed with unsold stock to push them to work in synchrony. 

In other words, as the fashion industry faces collapse, the councils unite. 

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Selecting fashion for connoisseurs

How to navigate the fashion weeks

In a finite world of endless options, most of which have a massified concept, selecting fashion for connoisseurs represents very specific research. Less but better, timeless fashion and quiet luxury are fundamental values for people like us.

By the way, given that overproduction ignores the current dramatic situation, we find it thoughtless to focus on brands that still operate on such a pattern.

So, we are keeping an eye on some international brands, and of course, we are curious to see what happens around us in the fashion field. But that’s just what it is – curiosity. In order to survive all the fluff that overwhelms the industry and contributes to making it less fascinating, we need to be very clear.

Fashion selection

Our preferences and choices reflect our values. We know what we need and what we don’t. So, let’s recap what it is precisely.

First, what we don’t need:

  • obsessive trends
  • poor design
  • mass products, quantity, overproduction/ overconsumption
  • fake sustainable products
  • exhausting social media presence

Too much noise and confusion. There’s too much of everything put out in a compulsive manner. That is not for people like us.

Now, what do we want?

  • clothes made to last: staples and meaningful garments. Once you consciously purchase, they will become a constant element of your wardrobe. That’s what timeless fashion means
  • tailoring: well-crafted clothes made with care and attention
  • beautiful fabrics: when you touch and wear them, you feel the difference on your skin
  • good design and quality

The market is large, crowded and oversaturated with pointless stuff. Should we fit in? No, thanks. Brands’ social media presence doesn’t impress us. Influencers don’t influence us. We prefer less, much less, but better. Niche fashion. It might not be for you, which is fine.

Selecting fashion for connoisseurs, people like us, we want unique clothes for unique people.

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Gendered fashion weeks, genderless fashion & sustainability

Do we still need to separate men’s and women’s fashion weeks?

In order to make sense, genderless fashion and gendered fashion weeks should find a thoughtful convergence. And not only from a style perspective but for the compelling necessity of a more sustainable industry.

During fashion weeks, which last about one week for each category, womenswear and menswear, designers present their new collections. Now there are two elements:
First, the fashion industry needs a more sustainable approach
Second, many designers lately proposed clothes less defined by gender.
The intersection of these two points can help the fashion industry change for the better.

Genderless fashion: what does it mean?

Contemporary fashion is more gender-fluid, and the separation between men’s and women’s clothing seems less felt. Apparently, people are free to select clothes from the category they prefer. Indeed, genderless fashion doesn’t mean renouncing femininity or masculinity but having the freedom to pick the garments suitable for yourself.

Genderless has become one of the most represented concepts in fashion designs. So why does the fashion industry keep dividing the schedule into women’s and men’s fashion shows? It seems contradictory in terms of style proposal and sustainability, too.

Fundamentally, we are free to choose. Designers can create the image they like following their creativity and vision of style. At the same time, everyone can refer to femininity and masculinity to express their personal tastes.

Gendered fashion weeks & sustainability

But it is not just a matter of style and freedom of expression. In the face of the environmental crisis, sustainability must be a priority in the fashion industry. In fact, weaving together men’s and women’s on the same runway would not only optimise costs for the brands but would reduce the impact of fashion shows on the environment.

And so, do we still need gendered fashion weeks? Presenting one calendar only seems to be a more sustainable solution for the future of fashion.

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Fashion weeks and research

Critical thinking #formodernhumans

Fashion weeks used to offer ideas for doing research, highlighting details worth considering to put together and defining a specific selection. So it was in the past.

And so, these days, we keep an eye on the international events, from New York to London and now Milano. Of course, Paris and Tokyo too. But so far, we are perplexed about what we see.

Fashion weeks vs change

Indeed, the discussion on changing the industry, which was so popular during the pandemic, has disappeared from the scene.
It seems that the fashion industry is an enormous system that doesn’t know how to renovate itself. And so, brands keep up with the same thing they used to do.

Even the language feels boring, like an out-of-tune mantra. And you realise that words like sustainability, timeless or genderless are on everyone’s lips. Just empty claims for people who don’t think.

And they all talk about the same things, but nothing ever changes. Furthermore, the world is falling apart, but it looks like brands are only interested in dressing music or movie stars. That’s what you can offer? Really? Celebrities! They have the money to buy whatever they want, but they don’t pay for their clothes.

When it comes to design and style, you may be even more perplexed. Of course, designers cannot deliver brand-new concepts. But lately, what the industry calls freedom or inclusion seems just bad taste combined with a lack of vision.

Fashion weeks vs research

Therefore, when we need to research unique garments for people like us, the widest part of the work happens through lookbooks we receive via email. And through some specific research that we do online. Then, possibly, showrooms too.

In the end, you’ll get more value from brands that have something to say, and you can see it through their meaningful design rather than those who want to attract herds of replicants who look all the same.

Above all, fashion weeks as a pure waste of money having an impact on the environment, are pointless.

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