To stay relevant and at the front of consumers’ minds, a growing number of fashion designers are rethinking the way they present their collections. Burberry are leading the pack, announcing a game-changing move in which the presentation of its men’s and women’s collections will be presented in a combined runway show, twice a year at London Fashion Week. Not only will the two collections be shown simultaneously, the full collection will be available to purchase online and in-store as soon as the show ends. In order to cater for fashion’s growing non-Western clientele, Burberry’s collections will no longer be seasonal, and will instead be called ‘February’ and ‘September’.
With social media dominating fashion show coverage and driving demand for collections, we predict a number of fashion houses will follow Burberry’s lead.
UPDATE: In a bold move, Tom Ford has cancelled his planned presentations at New York fashion week. Instead he will show a unified men’s and women’s autumn/winter 2016 collection in September. In a statement Ford said: “We spend an enormous amount of money and energy to stage an event that creates excitement too far in advance of when the collection is available to the consumer. Showing the collection as it arrives in stores will remedy this, and allow the excitement that is created by a show or event to drive sales and satisfy our customers increasing desire to have their clothes as they are ready to wear them.”
