What's the Role of Fashion Runway Presentations Today?
Travelling all over the world to sit in close quarters with a bunch of other people who have also travelled near and far to watch clothing pass by does not seem like a sensible activity right now. So why are fashion weeks still going ahead during this latest variant wave crashing over us? For fashion, darling?
It’s a wee bit away yet, the runway action does not get going until February, but the upcoming calendar got me thinking about it now. Thinking a little bit and then a lot (a bit). The questions I kept coming back to during my pondering was,
“Pausing runways for a pandemic is one thing but why do we have live fashion presentations today anyways?”
“Has the industry evolved past it?”
“Are fashion shows so last season?”
Retail has ridden the wave of digital dominance. A lot has shifted online and brick-and-mortar stores have been undergoing massive upheaval. So much of what was kept behind the curtains for the fashion elite few has been democratized (and monetized in new ways) on social media, blogs, and websites. If you want to see what celebrities were in the front row at any given show, Google and find out within seconds. It’s not like the good old days – cue the out of touch, older millennial jokes here – when one had to wait until the magazines covered it, wrote and photographed it, and printed it for the newsstands. Then you had to shell over cash to read it.
Many of the industries evolutions have been good for we interested commoners. In addition to digital access, actual access to the products is getting better. Online sales, the rise of quality consignment, and resale purchase at your own risk websites (think eBay, Facebook marketplace) all the way to vetted and verified resale at The RealReal. Revente, and local shops make it easier to not only find what you want but buy what you want. If you want it and have the resources, you can have it.
So why runways? I’m certainly not the first person to question the relevance of fashion shows LINK. For me it’s a question of what do the runways have – aside from the people seated at the front row – that we can’t get elsewhere? With all the various options to get the fashion – see, buy, lust over – why do we need runway presentations? What makes them different? Why should we still care?
Nostalgia for one. While I believe that is something becomes obsolete, it’s well and good to move on. That said, there are certain things that I am romantic about. Clothing is certainly one of them. While I’m glad that corsets and bloomers are no longer daily use undergarments, they have their place in fashion history. I believe that we need those garments to create modern versions of that. There is no shapewear without bloomers first much like there is no push up bra without the garment construction knowledge of corsets.
Another thing to consider may be a more business-rooted truth. Fashion weeks create deadlines for brands. Sending naked models down the runways will get you press but it won’t sell clothes that don’t exist. Challenging retail business for sure. Having a schedule and #goals gets shit done. The volume of product is beyond huge. The current calendar is way too aggressive in my mind. It’s not simply two shows a year: Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. In reality, many brands also prepare for either haute couture or ready-to-wear. There’s cruise, resort, bridal, menswear, all to consider. Now we have the “pre’s” to include: pre-fall and pre-spring. It’s a lot. As mentioned, it creates a lot of product. To put it into dollars, from a Forbes article we know,
The fashion industry represents over $2.5 trillion dollars (according to a recent McKinsey report) and, on average, a 10 to 15 minute fashion show can cost anywhere from $200,000 to over $1 million.
Take that, Superbowl spends.
One key takeaway from the pandemic that became crystal clear is that while online communities are great and certainly can tide one over, meeting up in person is crucial for humans and humanity. There is something to be said for being there, right in the room. Immersing all your senses – well everything aside from tasting the garments but do what you want if you’ve paid for it – can elevate the experience. While I can shop online proficiently, ultimately, for it to be a keeper, I need to see the garment in person and on a body. So far, there is no technology that comes close enough to the in-person experience. I require two-way interaction with a piece and sometimes I want to ask another human in the same rooms as me about it. Photos and videos tell a lot of the story but not all that I want to know. For me, human touch is not just a want to know, it’s a need to know.
Practicalities of being with the garment in person aside, I think it’s critical to include the performance art aspect. Watching Hamilton on Disney+ last year from my couch was great; seeing it in live in a New York theatre would have left me an emotional wreck. That memory would be imprinted. I’d never forget how I felt. Live music can have a similar experience to theatre. I hear live sports does that for fans, too. That’s the magic of a live fashion show. Seeing how a garment moves on a model’s body as they stomp or strut down a runway in a curated, immersive experience chosen by the designer is a sight to be seen first-hand. While one could argue, stop the fuss and just show us the clothes, a part of me wants to be entertained. I want the spectacle. I want to feel something as I’m on another level with the whole thing. Runways gives us the goods, but more importantly they provide a point of view, excite, and inspire a reason to hope. I say the show must (and should) go on, albeit with pandemic safety precautions and modifications in place.
Maybe, in the future the whole runway ordeal will impress me less. While it would be simpler to not want all the extra fuss, that would be boring. If I’m being honest, I don’t want to lose my desire for fantasy and have it fulfilled by a non-human true love. As cliché as it is, it’s my passion. My love for fashion is for me. I choose what I share about it and it will always love me back. I can wear it to the grave.
As humans, passions help us feel. They provide a lens to focus. They help us thrive. My interests may dovetail with yours and they may not. Totally cool. Our differences are a large part of what makes humans interesting. One person’s poison is another’s passion.
Death by a chalice full of runway fashion? That’s a hell of a way to go. Sign me up.
