Saint Laurent has chosen to display its collections off-calendar in recent seasons. The French fashion house, Saint Laurent, announced Tuesday that it would return to Paris Fashion Week’s catwalk calendar.
Like Bottega Veneta or Gucci, Kering saw the opportunity to show ready-to-wear outside of fashion week. This was in contrast to the set dates of global fashion weeks. Showing on your own terms was a great way to attract customers and media attention, without the constraints of a strict calendar or a number of competing events.
Paris Fashion Week is much like its contemporaries from New York, London, and Milan. The majority of the shows will be in-person events, as opposed to the 18-month-old fashion weeks.
Fashion Week is Back
The pandemic changed both audiences’ sensibilities and abilities to travel. This led to questions about how effective it would be to host an event outside of fashion week, which requires special arrangements. Fashion can be an alternative route, particularly for buyers and journalists. This is what the industry has learned over the past year. Fashion Week is a great way to get noticed, even though the wider organization has its limitations.
Many Asian and American buyers and journalists are currently unable to travel. This has reduced fashion week’s attendance by up to 30%. New York’s Met Gala was a good example. It was attended mostly by local celebrities and influencers, and was attended by a younger group. European designers and celebrities of heavyweight were absent. It will be the opposite in Paris.
