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Fashion
week |
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A fashion week is a
fashion industry event,
lasting approximately one
week, which allows fashion
designers, brands or
"houses" to display their
latest collections in runway
shows and buyers to take a
look at the latest trends.
Most importantly, these
events let the industry know
what's "in" and what's "out"
for the season. The most
prominent fashion weeks are
held in the four fashion
capitals of the world: New
York City, London, Milan,
and Paris. |
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Characteristics |
In the major fashion
capitals, fashion weeks
are semiannual events.
January through April
designers showcase their
autumn and winter
collections and September
through November the
spring/summer collections
are shown. Fashion weeks
must be held several months
in advance of the season to
allow the press and buyers a
chance to preview fashion
designs for the following
season. This is also to
allow time for retailers to
arrange to purchase or
incorporate the designers
into their retail marketing.
Latest innovations in dress
designs are showcased by
renowned fashion designers
during these fashion weeks,
and all these latest
collections are covered in
magazines like
designerzcentral, Vogue, etc |
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Schedule |
New York City, London,
Milan, and Paris each host a
fashion week twice a year
with New York kicking off
each season and the other
cities following in the
aforementioned order.
There are two major seasons
per year - Autumn/Winter and
Spring/Summer. For
Womenswear, the
Autumn/Winter shows always
start in New York in
February and end in Paris in
March. Spring/Summer shows
start in September in London
and end in Paris in October.
Menswear Autumn/Winter shows
start in January in Milan
for typically less than a
week followed by another
short week in Paris.
Menswear Spring/Summer shows
are done in June. Womenswear
Haute Couture shows
typically happen in Paris a
week after the Menswear
Paris shows.
Over the past few
years,[when?] more and more
designers have shown
inter-seasonal collections
between the traditional
Autumn/Winter and
Spring/Summer seasons. These
collections are usually more
commercial than the main
season collections and help
shorten the customer's wait
for new season clothes. The
inter-seasonal collections
are Resort/Cruise (before
Spring/Summer) and Pre-Fall
(before Autumn/Winter).
There is no fixed schedule
for these shows in any of
the major fashion capitals
but they typically happen
three months after the main
season shows. Some designers
show their inter-seasonal
collections outside their
home city. For example,
 Karl
Lagerfeld has shown his
Resort and Pre-Fall
collections for Chanel in
cities such as Moscow, Los
Angeles and Monte Carlo
instead of Paris. Many
designers also put on
presentations as opposed to
traditional shows during
Resort and Pre-Fall either
to cut down costs or because
they feel the clothes can be
better understood in this
medium.
Some fashion weeks can be
genre-specific, such as a
Miami Fashion Week
(swimwear), Rio Summer
(swimwear), Prêt-a-Porter
(ready-to-wear) Fashion
Week, Couture (one-of-a-kind
designer original) Fashion
Week and Bridal Fashion
Week, while Portland
(Oregon, USA) Fashion Week
shows some eco-friendly
designers. |
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