5 Things I Learned This Fashion Month
For starters, sustainability is just not a priority.
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If you'rereading this newsletter, there's a good chance you've been paying at least a tiny bit of attention to fashion month. Perhaps you like looking at your favorite brand's latest designs, seeing celebrities sit in front rows, or maybe you are intimately acquainted with the whole circus because you work in it. Regardless of why you have fashion week on the brain, there's one thing we tend to always think about: trends.
I want to do something a little different with that this season. Instead of running through each show and talking about the common clothing themes, I thought I would touch on what the last four weeks said about what (and who) the industry is prioritizing and what that means for the future.
Brands are willing to go off the seasonal calendar, but they'll still make the same amount of clothing.
When the official calendars were first announced, it was immediately apparent that some brands had decided to skip. At first, it seemed like maybe this meant seasonality (and the constant need to make clothing every three months), was falling out of trend. However, it soon became clear that it was mostly just brands realizing they could do their own thing outside of the traditional buying cycle and major fashion cities. It could be a good thing if they weren't still making four collections a year, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like less clothing is the goal. Jacquemus, for example, decided to show in Hawaii, but still for their regular ready-to-wear collection.
There is a bigger focus on younger audiences.
While influencers have been a staple during fashion week for over a decade, it appears the amount of influencers is changing. And when you look through TikTok, it's understandable why. There are thousands of videos already highlighting the shows and the brands to younger, captive audiences willing to buy in.
Sustainability is not as prevalent as we all want to think it is.
So let's get this out of the way: making dozens of new collections in one month is not a sustainable thing to do. Some brands were trying to innovate toward less impact by using upcycled materials or touting small runs of collections. But for the most part, environmental impact and labor rights in the supply chain were simply an afterthought.
Diversity sizing is not a priority.
It's clear that despite years of calls for change, having models of different sizes is not a priority for most brands showing during fashion month. In Europe, especially, dozens of shows featured only one plus size mode,l if any at all. It's clear the clothing is still made with a sample size body in mind, and the brands are not willing to change despite posturing in advertisements and magazine editorials.
Fashion can't easily opt-out.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened right in the middle of Milan Fashion Week, it was clear that fashion brands can't get away with neutrality - especially when the customer base and supply chain is international. Even though most of brands didn't use their platform for solidarity, the silence in and of itself was statement enough.