See Want Buy

Biggest news from Fashion Month so far? It's got to be straight to consumer catwalks and I just keep thinking to myself- does fashion really need to be this fast? So far big players like Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger have carried out this new business model but it is still to early to stay if it is truly successful.

It begs the question- is this really necessary? Earlier this year we saw Raf Simmons leave Dior because he felt the slip of focus on Creative Direction due to a pressure to be faster and faster. I was almost under the impression that we were coming out the other side of fast fashion. The horrors that have come out of this sped up fashion cycle are clear but not always reported on at all (read --- to scare yourself on the subject). The designers involved in see-now-buy-now may have cleaner fashion cycles than cheaper fashion brands but what about the knock on down the chain? The speed will be copied.

Also, what is going to happen to the structure of Fashion Weeks- are seasons still relevant? Do we really want to buy Winter collections in Spring? With the conjoining of mens and womens collections , the traditional fashion month will probably not survive as it is much longer.  It definitely should include talent and culture outside of the top four cities- there is an awful lot of talent outside of them.

Straight to Consumer is a step in a new direction good or bad, we don’t know yet but I change has to always brings new ideas and that is what the industry runs on. 

Anna