Paris Fashion Week to go ahead in September 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has turned the fashion season topsy-turvy with Paris men’s and haute couture fashion shows next month scheduled to be held online. Dior, on the other hand, is hosting a live show minus any audience come July 22, 2020.
Fashion lovers have been deprived of live runway shows since March this year and with the announcement of Paris Fashion Week SS ‘21, a large number of fashion enthusiasts are expected to head to the French capital to see the 2021 collections.
The Paris fashion week, by far the world’s biggest and most important, is going to begin in September this year.
The French Haute Couture and Fashion Federation has said that the fashion week will be held between September 28 and October 6 and “comply with the recommendations of the authorities” on the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has turned the fashion season topsy-turvy with Paris men’s and haute couture fashion shows next month scheduled to be held online. Dior, on the other hand, is hosting a live show minus any audience come July 22, 2020.
The concept of fashion going ‘phygital’ has caught up especially amid the coronavirus-led lockdown. At London’s Men’s Fashion Week held digitally, only a few brands managed to produce new collections, and chose to instead create films, podcasts, and playlists. This trend will be seen in the upcoming virtual couture week, a video-only Paris spring 2021 men’s week, followed by a digital Men’s Fashion Week in Milan.
Major brands like Dior, Burberry, and Ermenegildo Zegna have announced that they are looking forward to capturing the best of both worlds with ‘phygital’ shows: Live events with limited or no audiences to be broadcast via livestream or video.
The phygital set up however will require designers to rethink their guest lists and venue choices, even opting for larger spaces or outdoor ramps, instead of an intimate setup indoors.
Last month, Lakme Fashion Week announced a first of its kind ‘phygital’ concept in India called the Virtual Showroom. The virtual showroom comes as an important step towards sustainability and slow fashion, especially in the current circumstances. Lakme Fashion Week plans to roll out several digital fashion innovations starting soon for the next few months ‘phygitally’.
