Fashion Week. What it is and how it takes place

In the previous blog we talked about the birth of the first fashion shows, its evolution over the years and its function, leading up to the current representations of fashion, all of which are grouped together in what will be called Settimana della Moda (Fashion Week). Fashion Week takes place over, precisely, a week during which the many brands, designers and the fashion industry compete to introduce the public and buyers to new trends and their own creations and collections.

Brief historical background.

What it is and how it takes placeThe first Fashion Week was held in New York in 1943. The outbreak of World War II, in fact, made it difficult to promote overseas the made-in-New York style proposals, and importing clothes from Europe was also a problem; therefore, to the detriment of French production, it was thought to organize and concentrate all the American fashion players in a single week in a single container. At the end of the war, that idea appealed greatly to European industry players, and so the New York initiative was adopted by other fashion capitals. The first European Fashion Week was held, after the Haute Couture shows of 1945, in Paris in 1973; London and Milan followed suit.

Since that time and in more recent times, other cities are also trying to achieve a leading role in the international fashion scene, such as Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Shanghai, etc., promoting in turn, Fashion Weeks, some of which are dedicated to specific products, such as swimwear or eco-friendly clothing, etc., each trying to capture its own slice of the market. Fashion Weeks, by now, are also held on a regional basis; one example is in Apulia, where individual city entities have formed themselves into a single proposing group, decentralizing individual (usually collective) fashion shows to different cities and towns, under the aegis of a single consortium group and the support of the Apulia Region, in order to better promote the brands, designers and local master craftsmen .

When does a Fashion Week fashion show take place?

Typically, Fashion Week takes place twice a year, between February and March and between September and October, in the world’s major fashion capitals (on some occasions several times a year). During those times, fashion creators and designers large and small unveil their latest collections. Especially the most important fashion capitals, such as Paris, London, Milan and New York, become the center of media attention for a week. If the fashion shows are an exclusive event for insiders such as press and buyers, the resonance in the mass media is enormous, thanks to the massive presence of fashion on the web, such that everyone can find out, almost in real time, what the designers’ many seasonal offerings are.

How a Fashion Week is articulated

First of all, it is important to point out that fashion weeks never happen at the same time but follow each other, so that journalists and the public and buyers from all over the world can attend all the shows. Thus, the four major fashion cities organize their own fashion weeks, set at specific periods, which remain more or less the same from one year to the next. The order is always the same: New York, London, Milan, Paris. Although in recent years there have been new markets and therefore new fashion weeks to watch out for, such as Fashion Week in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Fashion System, it is well known, lives in a constant projection into the future, because they have to prepare the collections for the following seasons well in advance. Thus, in September-October the next spring-summer collections are presented, as far as women’s fashion is concerned, and in February-March the next fall-winter collections are paraded.

How a fashion show is held during Fashion Weeks

Typically, fashion shows are held in special locations, and models walk down a catwalk. But, increasingly, creators are choosing locations that are unusual (industrial warehouses or other places far from the fashion world), historical (museums) or atypical. The setting of the location, the skillful use of lighting play an important role in the success of the fashion show, as well as the choice of the soundtrack that will accompany for the albeit short duration of the fashion show (usually the duration of a single fashion show does not exceed fifteen to twenty minutes, albeit with some exceptions).

The beginning of a fashion show is always the show’s calling card; technicians and directors are in high gear, everything must be perfect, to ensure the best success of what is a real show. The models parade on stage and introduce the models. At the end, all the models return to the stage, followed by the stylist greeting the room. After the show, where permitted, accredited press and VIPs have a chance to meet the stylist backstage.

Where do the clothes from the fashion shows go? Two types of clothes are usually shown on the fashion show, the so-called fashion show flashes, garments that are usually impossible to wear in everyday life, since they are just an exercise in style and showmanship, and the Houte Couture clothes. So-called flash garments are, usually, destined for the historical archives of the fashion house that produced them; while Houte Couture dresses are destined for sale in showrooms or they too, if unsold, will end up in historical archives.