The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
MILAN, Italy — Gucci is going seasonless and scaling back the rhythm of its fashion shows to twice per year.
"I will abandon the worn-out ritual of seasonalities and shows to regain a new cadence, closer to my expressive call," said designer Alessandro Michele in a diary entry posted to Gucci's Instagram.
“We will meet just twice a year,” the entry continues, “to share the chapters of a new story. Irregular, joyful and absolutely free chapters, which will be written blending rules and genres, feeding on new spaces, linguistic codes and communication platforms.”
The Italian megabrand is planning a virtual press conference with select journalists for Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAikqmCCYEw/
Gucci’s decision throws significant weight behind a growing chorus of labels, big and small, that have been pushing for significant changes to fashion’s traditional system of developing, showing, delivering and discounting collections.
Earlier in May, a group fronted by Belgian designer Dries van Noten published an open letter calling for changes to the timing of deliveries and discounts. The same week, a group of designers and executives facilitated by BoF published a proposal for "rewiring" the fashion calendar in its entirety, including the timing of buying periods and shows.
In late April, Gucci stablemate Saint Laurent announced its intention to skip Paris Fashion Week this September and reshape its schedule for showing collections for the rest of the year in a break with the conventional fashion calendar.
The French brand — which had already opted out of Paris men’s fashion week, taking its shows on the road to New York in 2018 and Malibu in 2019 — said the decision was made in response to the “waves of radical change” unleashed by the pandemic.
Covid-19 has hit the fashion industry hard. Social distancing measures and travel bans have already forced designers to rethink the way they show their collections for the foreseeable future, with London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks all going digital for the next cycle of shows.
Related Articles:
[ Designers Lobby to ‘Fix’ the Fashion System. Will It Work?Opens in new window ]
[ A Proposal for Rewiring the Fashion SystemOpens in new window ]
[ How to Make Digital Fashion Weeks WorkOpens in new window ]
Hermes saw Chinese buyers snap up its luxury products as the Kelly bag maker showed its resilience amid a broader slowdown in demand for the sector.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.