Page 11 - Demo

The Paradox
And this again is proof of the complexity of even the decomposed parts of the climate problem. While the increasing focus on the environmental footprint of Fashion Weeks and the overwhelming pressure on the industry to produce more and ever faster would rationally require a drastic change to the Fashion Week concept an important factor is overlooked. As Kenneth Richard from the digital fashion platform theimpression.com puts it: ‘Think about it: with all this of talk of abandoning physical fashion shows, no- one is considering what the point was in the first place. It’s not antiquated: you can’t accomplish this in any other way. And if you think you can, you’re heading into a world of disappointment. Nobody watches your live fashion video: the figures are there for people to see19’.
The fashion week shows get massive exposure because the voices, that Launchmetrics refers to, tell the story of the show in their own way. Influencers show off the entire experience – from the arrival of the invite, to the hotel, the venue, the backstage, the hair and makeup, the afters how – the runway itself is just a tiny section of that. This way, the attention to the collections are multiplied. An effect that can never be generated by a much more environmental sustainable solution as, for example, the virtual fashion week. A virtual reality show with the associated look book that is generated simply doesn’t offer the same opportunity to maximise theMedia Impact Value. ‘In short, shows happen because they bring a tribe together that can expand your message, through their own channels, for free’20.
Keith Baptista21, who has created unique branding events for some of the biggest names in fashion including Chanel and Gucci is of the opinion that ‘shows can’t simply be replaced by the digital experience. ‘They’re not interchangeable. They’re very different experiences. It’s like watching musicians perform on Zoom rather than seeing them live: it’s a good experience, it’s a good trick; for a moment it’s excusable given the circumstances... but it’s never going to be a replacement’.
So, given these conflicting drivers that work to both destroy Fashion Week as well as make it continuously larger, more extravagant and more frequent, the complex problem requires a drastic solution.
19https://theimpression.com/the-future-of-fashion-shows-part-one-acknowledging-the-problem/ 20https://theimpression.com/the-future-of-fashion-shows-part-one-acknowledging-the-problem/ 21https://www.mrporter.com/en-us/style-council/member/keith-baptista-9eddaa1fefbd27f7