PetitPoix: Maneuvering Fashion Week

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Maneuvering Fashion Week

Tory Burch Andres Pant
In which Fashion Week did these appear?

If you are one of those people left asking, "Didn't we just have a Fashion Week?" here is a hint: Four seasons. Hundreds of designers and heaps and heaps of clothes. Repeat that year round -- week after week in all the big cities around the world. Spring 2012 shows are now rolling. Meanwhile the quite wearable Fall/Winter 2010 is still available online and in outlet stores just as we are welcoming Fall 2011. Donna Karan has voiced her opinion more than once on this topic.

In 1943 Fashion Week was literally one week and in one city. Now
there are two to five Fashion Weeks in each big city a year. Due to their opposing seasons the northern hemisphere is now buying what is "in" for Fall 2011 while the Southern hemisphere is just leaving behind the styles from Fall/Winter 2010 and eagerly awaiting their turn for Spring 2011. Spring 2012 hasn't even hit the stores yet. Unless of course we are surprised at Rio de Janeiro or Santiago de Chile where a bold designer may decide to thwart the established albeit flexible trends of the "fashion system" and move ahead a year or a season at his own risk.
An interesting article was published in 2008 which may help you make heads and tails of Fashion Week. Another challenge to you readers and budding fashion designers alike: In which Fashion week did the garments you see on this page appear? See all the recent Fashion Week launches, search for the runway shows on youtube or even directly at the designers' personal websites.