Gucci Calls the Fashion Schedule "Worn Out" and Decides on Seasonless Shows Twice a Year

It's no secret that the coronavirus is the push the fashion industry needed to clean up its act. Now that everything from garment supply chains to performative fashion shows are in desperate need of restructuring, who will be the voices of fashion's future? Gucci's Alessandro Michele is one person leading that conversation and thinks the annual seven-season fashion show schedule is "worn out" — we couldn't agree more.

Following Gucci's virtual press conference on May 24, creative director Alessandro Michele took to Instagram to elaborate on how the brand is embracing a more sustainable fashion show schedule. "I will abandon the worn out rituals of seasonalities and show to regain a new cadence, closer to my expressive call," Michele muses in a poetic Instagram carousel captioned Diario. "We will meet just twice a year, to share the chapters of a new story. Irregular, joyful and absolutely free chapters, which will be written blending rules and genres, feeding on new spaces, linguistic codes, and communication platforms. And beyond. I would like to leave behind the paraphernalia of leitmotifs that colonized our prior world: cruise, pre-fall, spring-summer, fall-winter. I think these are stale and underfed words. Labels of an impersonal discourse that lost its meaning."

Report: Amanda T Lou

The Summer of Virtual Fashion Weeks

This summer, Europe’s most prestigious fashion events will be joining the rest of the industry’s temporary relocation to online platforms. Paris, Milan, and London Fashion Weeks have each announced the different ways in which they will be transporting their awe-inspiring shows to digital media. Interestingly enough, the sudden and mandatory switch to online spaces has actually compelled each Fashion Week to present their collections more creatively.

Going digital for the first time, London Fashion Week aims to be inclusive of both industry professionals and everyday fashion enthusiasts by making their shows accessible worldwide. As a result, this will also be the first London Fashion Week that merges womenswear and menswear, creating a gender-neutral showcase that will be less wasteful than those of previous years.

Following London Fashion Week is Milan Digital Fashion Week, which will be available through the National Chamber of Italian Fashion’s website cameramoda.it, as well as their many social media accounts. To further immerse viewers in the Fashion Week experience, there will be additional online features, including masterclasses and webinars led by industry experts. Remaining mindful of the pandemic, Milan Digital Fashion Week is an extension of the “China, We Are You With You” initiative, which began in February as a means of remotely keeping Chinese citizens who were unable to travel to this year’s event updated on its affairs.

Lastly, Paris Fashion Week will debut its new video format on July 9 through July 13. This Fashion Week is more traditional than the previous two, however, as the focus is more on the adherence to industry conventions and the display of collections rather than any digital innovations. Nonetheless, even this devotion to Fashion Week customs has the potential to elicit creative ideas for making audiences feel as though they are attending the grand event in person. Paris Fashion Week has yet to confirm its schedule or featured brands, but the fashion capital of the world will never fail to dazzle audiences during its most significant week, regardless of venue or format.

Report: Nia Hunt