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Tom Ford to Show Men’s at New York Fashion Week

BoF's guide to the changing fashion calendar tracks new operating models and approaches, brand by brand.
Tom Ford Autumn/Winter 2017 campaign | Source: Tom Ford
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  • BoF Team

Tom Ford to Show Men's at New York Fashion Week (22 January 2018)

Since launching women’s ready-to-wear in 2010, Tom Ford has experimented with the presentation format of his collections, releasing a video starring Lady Gaga one season, showing in Los Angeles the next. On Monday, the acclaimed American designer announced he would show his menswear collection at New York Fashion Week’s men’s portion on February 6.

This February, New York Fashion Week: Men's will no longer be a separate entity from the women's shows. Instead, the two will be combined to create a single 10-day schedule with shows marked as men's, women's or co-ed.

This marks the first time the designer will show his men's collection at New York Fashion Week: Men's. Ford's most recent New York show was in September 2017, when he presented his women's Spring 2018 collection. His men's Spring 2018 line was shown in Milan.

Alexander Wang to Shift to Pre-Collection Schedule (17 January 2018)

Alexander Wang, a designer known for his elaborate runway shows and after-parties (last season, he staged a mini-music festival) is saying goodbye to New York Fashion Week after his upcoming February show. Following in the footsteps of Proenza Schouler and Rodarte — which both decided to forgo New York Fashion Week, align their main lines with the lucrative sales period for pre-collections when buyers spend about 80 percent of their budgets and show their collections during Paris couture — Wang will present only two mainline collections a year in New York in June and December.

The brand will also deliver product to stores in more frequent, smaller batches. T by Alexander Wang, the brand’s contemporary line, and the mainline’s accessories offering will continue to adhere to the traditional schedule. The shift follows the appointment of former Goop and Martha Stewart Omnimedia head Lisa Gersh to the role of chief executive in October. The designer, who had previously taken on the chief executive role, remains creative director and chairman of the board.

“We have been exploring many different approaches to our product launches through collaborations such as Adidas Originals and special capsules to measure customer response," said Wang in a statement. "Our shows will reinforce our brand’s DNA to our global customers and fans while we continue to be focused in our product offering. This new cadence will allow us to speak to our global customer in different conversations that are not limited to just fashion week twice a year."

Moncler to Open Milan Fashion Week, Combine Men's and Women's Shows (20 December 2017)

Moncler may have recently discontinued its designer-led Gamme collections, but it is by no means exiting the fashion week cycle. On February 20, the Italian luxury outerwear label will kick off Milan Fashion Week's Autumn/Winter 2018 women's ready-to-wear season with a combined men's and women's show that will coincide with the unveiling of the Moncler Genius Building, a concept that the company says will bring the brand's new strategy to life.

The event, organised in partnership with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, “aims to mark a starting point, but also to underscore the pivotal nature of Milan within the system, as a hub of innovation and design,” according to a statement released by the company.

Despite increasing competition, Moncler has managed to sustain double-digit growth. In the first nine months of 2017, sales at Moncler reached €736.8 million ($859.5 million at current exchange rates), up 15 percent from €639.3 million ($745.7 million) during the same period in 2016. Sales at its own stores were up 19 percent.

J.W. Anderson Combines Men's and Women's Shows (14 December 2017)

Jonathan Anderson will combine the menswear and womenswear runway shows for his namesake brand, starting with the Autumn/Winter 2018 collections to be shown during London's womenswear Fashion Week in February.

Anya Hindmarch Reveals New Show Format (12 December 2017)

Anya Hindmarch has announced it will no longer present its collections through seasonal shows. Instead, the brand will switch to a series of consumer-focused 'creative happenings' more aligned with the format of recent launches such as the Anya Smells home scents collection, as well as the Build A Bag range. The events will still be held during London Fashion Week.

Balenciaga Unifies Men's and Women's Collections (5 December 2017)

Balenciaga will combine its menswear and womenswear collections starting from the Autumn/Winter 2018 season at Paris Fashion Week in March. The brand will also launch a men's pre-collection from January 2018 onwards.

Acne Studios to Merge Womenswear Collections and Move to Couture Schedule (6 December 2017)

BoF can exclusively reveal that Acne Studios is to consolidate its women's pre-collections and ready-to-wear collections. The Swedish brand will also shift the timing of its women's fashion show to coincide with Paris haute couture Fashion Week.

“First and foremost, it’s about focus, and creating even stronger designs and collections,” explained Mattias Magnusson, the company’s chief executive officer. “There’s so much talk within the industry about how the pace is too fast and how there are too many collections being produced, sometimes it is overlooked that every fashion house has the opportunity to choose their own pace."

"We know that creating great design and product requires a lot of time, research and development," added Magnusson. "We want to make sure we allow ourselves that time rather than rushing from one collection to another all the time." For Jonny Johansson, creative director and co-founder, it is a welcome decision. "It is a practical solution that we believe is the best for the company on many levels," said Johansson. "For me, I will work more closely for a longer period on each collection, giving [me more] time to also create side tracks [and have] more creative freedom, I guess."

Of course, couture week is quickly becoming a popular choice for ready-to-wear designers aiming to cut through the clutter and align their main lines with the lucrative sales period for pre-collections, when buyers spend about 80 percent of their budgets. Other ready-to-wear brands that have embraced the advantages of the couture calendar include Vetements, Rodarte, Proenza Schouler and Dundas

Magnusson also cites the “markdown epidemic” — driven, in part, by the short life cycle of product on the shop floor before it is discounted on sale — as a motive for reconfiguring the timing of the show. He added that currently the US is where this happens most, but because of online “transparency” it is having a domino effect on other markets. “You pour your heart and soul into a collection and by the time it gets delivered to the shop floor, worst case you get six weeks before they go on sale,” said Magnusson. “If that continues, people will no longer want to pay full price.”

The newly combined womenswear collection will be bigger, “more comprehensive” and delivered in drops throughout the year, starting with Fall/Winter in June and Spring/Summer in December. “In this a new set up, we plan to deliver product in a more continuous way and when it is relevant to the customer,” continued Magnusson. “We expect to create more excitement in store and to create better conditions for our wholesale partners in doing this.” The menswear collection will continue to be shown at the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.

Last year, the Stockholm-based brand radically reshaped its denim offering — which forms about 15 per cent of the business — replacing the entire range of existing denim products with new permanent styles and launching a new seasonal denim collection, under the banner of Acne Studios Blå Konst. Today, the label, which remains privately owned, has 53 retail stores in 13 countries and 600 wholesale accounts globally. Turnover was just below €200 million ($215 million) in the company's last fiscal year.

Salvatore Ferragamo Combines Autumm/Winter 2018 Men's and Women's Shows (24 November 2017)

Salvatore Ferragamo will present its men's and women's collections together as of Autumn/Winter 2018 during Milan Fashion Week in February. The unification will see the Ferragamo show absent from the Milan menswear calendar, and see the brand present two combined shows per year, instead of four.

The new show format is in-line with the brand's strategy going forwards to create a more consistent brand image. In October, Ferragamo announced Paul Andrew's appointment as creative director of womenswear, after he  joined the brand as footwear director in September 2016.

Mulberry to Switch to 'See Now, Buy Now' Model (26 May 2017)

Mulberry will not be showing at London Fashion Week in September as it prepares to switch to a “see now, buy now” model. The move will also see Mulberry transition to a direct-to-consumer brand, a decision it hopes will drive engagement and increase its relevance to customers.

In lieu of a runway show, the brand will hold private appointments with press in London and Paris during fashion month, before returning to the schedule in February 2018.

Mulberry follows a slew of brands, including Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, that have embraced the “see now, buy now” model.

Christopher Kane Launches 'See Now, Buy Now' Capsule (20 February 2017)

At its Autumn/Winter 2017 runway show at London Fashion Week, Christopher Kane has made its first foray into the 'see now, buy now' movement. The brand has launched a shoppable collection of handbags and high-top sneakers called "The Space Collection."

Coach Combines Autumn/Winter 2017 Men's and Women's Shows (6 February 2017)

Coach is to merge its men's and women's shows beginning with its Autumn/Winter 2017 collections during New York Fashion Week in February. Going forward, the American fashion house will move its men's shows from London to New York and present men's and women's together twice a year. The brand previously held two shows a year each for men's and women's.

The announcement follows Coach's successful merging of its men's and women's collections into a single runway event in December 2016, when it presented its Autumn/Winter 2017 men's collection alongside women's pre-Fall 2017 as part of a 75th anniversary event.

Saint Laurent Merges Autumn/Winter 2017 Men's and Women's Shows (27 January 2017)

Saint Laurent has announced that it will present both its men's and women's Autumn/Winter 2017 collections together during the upcoming Paris Fashion Week.

The label — helmed creatively by Anthony Vaccarello — is the latest in a string of brands switching to two shows per year by merging menswear and womenswear. Some brands have even moved to the couture and menswear schedules, skipping women's fashion weeks altogether.

Saint Laurent's first co-ed show will take place on February 28.

H&M to Launch 'See Now, Buy Now' Capsule (27 January 2017)

H&M is switching to a 'see now, buy now' model for its Paris Fashion Week show. Items from the H&M Studio collection shown on the runway will be available to buy online immediately after the show, with stock available in-store the following day.

In order to communicate the initiative to consumers, H&M will preview the Studio collection on its website from a month before the March 1 show. It will also live-stream the show on its website.

The show will also incorporate menswear for the first time.

Kenzo Merges Autumn/Winter 2017 Men's and Women's Shows (13 December 2016)

Paris-based fashion brand Kenzo will move from showing its women's collection in September and March to showing men's and women's collections together in January and June, beginning with its Autumn/Winter collection during Paris Fashion Week in January 2017. The announcement follows the brand's successful merging of it's men's and women's collections into a single runway event in June 2016.

To maintain a presence during March and September Paris Fashion Weeks, Kenzo will present a number of special projects, collections and events under the title Kenzo "Memento."

Tommy Hilfiger's Second Direct-to-Consumer Show to Take Place in Los Angeles (1 December 2016)

Following the elaborate debut of Tommy Hilfiger's first in-season runway show, "Tommy Pier," in September 2016 during New York Fashion Week, the brand will present its spring collection in Venice Beach, California, on February 8, a day before the week of shows officially begins in New York City. The show will once again feature looks from both the Tommy x Gigi capsule, designed in collaboration with model Gigi Hadid, and the spring Hilfiger collection. Everything will be available for immediate purchase and take inspiration from the California beach lifestyle. "The casual, cool, chic look that is leading the fashion world this season was born and bred in L.A., and we knew this show would feel at home on Venice Beach," Hilfiger said in a statement.

Calvin Klein Combines Autumn/Winter 2017 Men's and Women's Shows (29 November 2016)

Raf Simons will debut his first Calvin Klein men's and women's collections together at a runway show at New York Fashion Week on February 10. The approach reflects an industry-wide move toward dual-gender shows, but also the brand's new creative strategy that unites all categories under Simons' direction.

Bottega Veneta to Blend Men's and Women's at Two Annual Fashion Shows  (28 November 2016)

Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta has announced it will show its men's and women's collections together by merging its four women's and men's shows into two seasonal events, starting from 2017.

The company, which will present its collections in February and September, said the decision represented "a natural evolution" following its combined Spring/Summer 2017 fashion show in September this year, and follows fellow Kering-owned brand Gucci's decision back in April to represent one unified collection on the runway each season.

Paul Smith Combines Men's and Women's Shows  (20 October 2016)

Starting from January 2017, Paul Smith will combine his men's and women's collections for the first time, which will make its debut at Paris men's fashion week. The company has not yet decided whether any future shows will be merged or which fashion schedule it will follow, at present.

“As an independent business, we can be very agile and address the changes in the evolving market in interesting ways. I’m excited to be taking the women’s catwalk show to join the men’s in the heart of Paris to where it all began in the 70s,” the designer said in a statement. Paul Smith launched his first collection for men in 1970 and entered into womenswear in 1994.

The company is continuing to expand its retail presence across the world, with recent store openings in Paris, Sydney and Toyko. Earlier this year, Smith also announced he would streamline his seven lines into two collections, Paul Smith, and PS by Paul Smith.

Vivienne Westwood Unveils Shoppable Runway Capsule (3 October 2016)

At its Spring/Summer 2017 runway show in Paris on Saturday 1 October, the Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood brand made its first foray into “see now, buy now.” A unisex capsule collection of 20 items went on sale immediately after the catwalk show in the brand’s stores and online.

Dsquared2 Merges Men's and Women's Shows, Moves to Men's Calendar (26 September 2016) 

Dsquared2 Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: InDigital.tv

Beginning in 2017, Dsquared2 will merge its men’s and women’s collections into two mixed-gender shows per year, which will take place on the men’s schedule during Milan men’s fashion week in January and June.

“We would like to give the women’s collection more time in the stores. By showing her earlier, we get her on the floor earlier,” Dan Caten, co-founder and co-designer of the Milan-based brand, alongside his twin brother Dean, told BoF.

Of the decision to combine the label’s men’s and women’s shows, he added, “We’re trying to keep them very brother- and sister-like — we shoot them together as a campaign so it makes it easier for us to keep the theme together and keep the collection cohesive. “

Hugo Boss Unveils First See Now, Buy Now Product (14 September 2016)

The Boss Bespoke Soft | Source: Courtesy

At the label’s runway show in New York on Wednesday, Hugo Boss unveiled its first “see now, buy now” product — the Boss Bespoke Soft, a hand-painted leather bag inspired by David Hockey and available in four colours, which went on sale immediately after the runway show in select Boss stores worldwide and the brand’s website.

"I think now is the perfect time for Boss to offer new and exciting products to our consumers directly at the time they see it," Jason Wu, artistic director of Boss Womenswear, told BoF. "We are becoming even more retail driven and it makes sense to have a more customised experience in our stores and on hugoboss.com."

Michael Kors Takes A 'Hybrid' Approach to Fashion Immediacy (14 September 2016)

Michael Kors Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: Indigital

After making eight items from his Autumn 2016 instantly shopable from the runway, Michael Kors is bringing back what he calls "ready to wear, ready to go" for Spring 2017. Approximately a dozen products — from fashion separates and dresses to shoes and bags — will be available to purchase online and in the designer's Madison Avenue and Bleecker Street stores directly following his New York Fashion Week show on September 14. But while many brands are switching entirely to the consumer calendar — including Ralph Lauren, Thakoon and Tommy Hilfiger in New York and Burberry in London — Kors is not there yet.

"We're finding that a hybrid blend is really what works for us," he said at a collection preview in his Bryant Park showroom the day before the show. "Most of my customers don't care what the name of the season is, they don't care if it's fall or it's pre-fall or it's holiday; they mix everything."

The designer also found that the shopper seeking instant gratification is more varied in profile than perhaps expected. "Last season, everyone asked, 'What kind of women show up that fast?' We had such a mixed bag of women walk into the store the day of the show on Madison Avenue," he said. "We had one girl stay home from high school. She watched the show in the morning and then she and her mom went to the store together. It's interesting that it's not a certain age group. It's a mix of people who are fashion fans."

This season, Kors added more apparel to his instant mix — it sold notably well in February — as well as several pairs of shoes and a new iteration of his "Mia" bag. "Last year, we really thought it would be just accessories," Kors said, noting that the items made immediately available for sale will be virtually seasonless. "I think frankly, a part of [the ready-to-wear success] has to with the weather. Tomorrow it's going to be 90 degrees Fahrenheit."

Ralph Lauren Adopts See Now, Buy Now (13 September 2016)

Ralph Lauren's Autumn/Winter 2016 show in February | Source: InDigital.tv

Ralph Lauren has announced significant changes to its show at NYFW on 14 September. Rather than showing its Spring/Summer 2016 collection, as expected, the brand will unveil a second Autumn/Winter 2016 collection via two shows at 7pm and 8.30pm EST, each with 200 guests, taking place in front of Ralph Lauren’s womenswear flagship on Madison Avenue.

The shows will be Ralph Lauren’s first in the “see now, buy now” format. All 45 looks will go on sale immediately after the show in Ralph Lauren’s stores, select stockists and on its website. The Autumn/Winter collection presented Wednesday will go on sale in a separate area of Ralph Lauren stores to the Autumn/Winter collection the brand presented in February.

Club Monaco Joins NYFW Schedule with Shoppable Men's and Women's Presentation (2 September 2016)

Club Monaco Autumn/Winter 2016 | Photo: Charlotte Wales

On Friday 9 September, Club Monaco will host its first on-schedule presentation during New York Fashion Week. The Ralph Lauren-owned lifestyle brand will show its men’s and women’s collections together, comprising 37 looks which will be immediately available to buy in select stores in North America and the brand’s e-commerce site.

“Based on the evolution of Club Monaco and our New York heritage, the timing felt right for us to show at New York Fashion Week,” said chief executive officer John Mehas. The presentation will also unveil the first collection by the brand’s new menswear designer, Matthew Millward, a former menswear design executive at Nike.

Rebecca Minkoff to Stage Runway Show on New York City Streets (1 September 2016)

Rebecca Minkoff | Source: Rebeccaminkoff.com

In February 2016, Rebecca Minkoff presented immediately shoppable looks during her NYFW runway show, dubbing the experience #seebuywear. That month, the contemporary label saw a 200 percent increase in year-over-year sales. But what comes next? "Because we had this phenomenal retail performance after the last show," explains chief executive officer Uri Minkoff, "We thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we had a runway show outside of our own store?'"

At noon on Saturday 10 September, the New York-based designer is doing just that, staging a runway show on Greene Street right outside her flagship boutique. About half of the 750-person audience will be fashion industry regulars — influencers, editors and buyers. The rest will be consumers, including Minkoff's direct-retail customers, as well as customers invited by key retail partners. Influencers who have been cast to walk in the show were also encouraged to invite a select number of their own followers.

The ambitious project, which Minkoff is calling #RunwayToRetail, took months to hash out with the City of New York, which heavily regulates events happening in public spaces (especially those that affect traffic). "We had to do permits, we had to do spreadsheets, we had to do charts of the street," she says. "The amount of detail required was Herculean."

The majority of the product will be available to purchase immediately after the show at the store, where Minkoff will host a meet-and-greet shopping event. The full collection will be available to buy within 60 days.

Topshop Unique Unveils Runway-to-Retail Strategy (31 August 2016)

Topshop Unique Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: InDigital.tv

More than 50 percent of Topshop Unique’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection will be made available to buy in stores and online immediately after the British high street label’s catwalk show on 18 September during London Fashion Week. The rest of the collection will go on sale on 11 November.

Topshop plans to roll out its "Runway-to-Retail" concept further next year, making its Unique Autumn/Winter 2017 collection fully available to buy after its show in February.

Kate Spade New York Tiptoes Toward the Consumer Calendar (26 August 2016)

Kate Spade New York Autumn/Winter 2016 | Photo: Billy Farrell Agency

Kate Spade New York is almost as well known for its whimsical, garden-party-style presentations during New York Fashion Week as it is for its whimsical, fit-for-a-garden-party clothes. But this season, the brand is foregoing a large-scale event packed with media, retailers, celebrities and influencers in order to better align itself with the consumer calendar in 2017.

Instead, the label is set to host intimate appointments on the rooftop of the NOMAD hotel. While the set will be as immersive as the theatrical constructions the team has created in the past, the invite list will be limited to long-lead and fashion trade media. Select trade publications will have the opportunity to cover the collection in real time, although full looks will be embargoed from consumer-facing publications until the clothing begins to hit stores in February 2017. Attendees will also be discouraged from posting full looks on social media.

To make up for the media impressions typically earned by staging a well-attended, Instagram-worthy show, Kate Spade New York will promote its Autumn/Winter 2016 collection with the second episode of its branded-content series, "Miss Adventure," as well as a spinoff series called "Miss Behavior," both of which will feature products that are currently available to purchase in-store and online.

The brand has also partnered with mobile video shopping network MikMak to create directly shoppable mini-commercials for certain under-$100 items. "The distance between when [the customer] starts thinking about what she wants to wear each season and when she expects to be able to wear it has shortened," said Kristen Neiman, senior vice president of brand creative at Kate Spade New York. "We're in a constant conversation with her and responded to that."

The company is considering a two-pronged approach for February 2017. Though still unconfirmed, the brand is currently planning to host a large-scale party presentation featuring in-season, instantly shoppable merchandise in addition to a smaller, next-season press presentation. "We know that the customer doesn't want to know about it until she can have it," explained Deborah Lloyd, president and chief creative officer. "We are going to talk to the people who need to know about it, at the right time in the right way."

Vivienne Westwood Combines Men's and Women's, Moves Show to London Fashion Week Men's (11 August 2016)

Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler at the brand's Autumn/Winter 2016 menswear show in Milan

Vivienne Westwood is combining its womenswear line, formally known as the Red Label, and its menswear line, formally known as the MAN Label, into one collection, which will be shown during London Fashion Week Men’s, starting in January 2017. Until now, both collections have been presented in Milan. In a statement, the brand said showing on the men’s schedule would enable it to “present the collections ahead of the sales period giving buyers a clear vision for the season prior to the appointments in the showroom.”

Alexander Wang Folds Resort into Spring/Summer 2017 Show (25 May 2016)

Alexander Wang at his Spring/Summer 2016 show | Source: Shutterstock

Alexander Wang’s Spring/Summer 2017 runway show in September will include items from the brand’s Resort 2017 collection, two months before the Resort collection arrives in stores in early November. The Resort collection will continue to be shown to buyers and press at the usual time in June, but images of the full collection will not be released until it goes on sale.

“For several seasons now, we have released images of our T by Alexander Wang and Men’s collections only at the time of their delivery in store,” the designer said in a statement. “We decided to pursue a similar strategy with our ready-to-wear pre-collections; we have found that this shortened timeline between seeing the collection and it being available in stores creates a sense of immediacy and generates excitement at the retail level.”

Public School to Show on Pre-Collection Calendar (11 April 2016)

Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow | Source: Indigital

Public School is aligning its runway shows with the pre-collection calendar, and combining its men's and women's collections into two shows per year, in December and June. The collections will be called Collection 1 (Pre-Spring and Spring) and Collection 2 (Pre-Fall and Autumn/Winter). The brand’s first show in this new format will take place in June. During fashion weeks in February and September, Public School will focus on “consumer-facing activity.”

Dao-Yi Chow, who, alongside Maxwell Osborne, is co-creative director and co-founder of Public School, said the move would “allow us to really develop our ideas cohesively throughout the year and subsequently slow the entire process down.” He continued, “We can actually enjoy our collections as opposed to being tied to the calendar.”

“When we launched women's it was always the extension of the men's collections,” added Osborne. “We feel the similar design approach made more of an impact when we showed men's and women's at the same time.”

According to Anthony Landereau, president of Public School, “the objective is of course to always improve our performance and have the best sell-through, getting the goods early in the stores.”

Gucci to Combine Women's and Men's Shows (5 April 2016)

Gucci Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: InDigital.tv

Gucci plans to integrate its women's and men's fashion shows. Beginning in 2017, creative director Alessandro Michele will present one unified collection on the runway each season. The first integrated show will be staged at Gucci's new Milan headquarters. The brand will not be embracing a direct-to-consumer show strategy — often dubbed "see now, buy now" — and, instead, continue to show its collections months before they go on sale in stores.

"It seems only natural to me to present my men's and women's collections together. It's the way I see the world today,” said Alessandro Michele in a statement. “It will not necessarily be an easy path and will certainly present some challenges, but I believe it will give me the chance to move towards a different kind of approach to my story telling."

"Alessandro Michele has in fact always presented his men's and women's collections together, so this is a very natural progression," added Gucci president and CEO Marco Bizzarri. "Moving to one show each season will significantly help to simplify many aspects of our business. Maintaining two separate, disconnected calendars has been a result of tradition rather than practicality."

Gucci will work closely with Italy’s Camera Nazionale della Moda on "reinforcing the Italian fashion system" to maintain the "see now, buy later" system, continued Bizzarri, who made the initial announcement of the move at the 2016 New York Times International Luxury Conference in Versailles.

Courrèges Makes a Third of Its Runway Collection Immediately Available (3 March 2016)

Courrèges Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: Courtesy

One third of the items in Courrèges Autumn/Winter 2016 collection, unveiled this week in Paris, were made available to buy in the brand’s flagship in Paris and on its website immediately after the runway show. In their show notes, artistic directors Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer called the move “a common sense decision,” adding, “We aren’t talking about ready to wear, but ready to live.”

Alexander Wang Autumn/Winter 2016 Bags Go on Sale (25 Feb 2016)

Alexander Wang Autumn/Winter 2016 handbags | Source: Courtesy

A capsule of handbags from Alexander Wang’s Autumn/Winter 2016 collection is now on sale in the brand’s London flagship, just weeks after the collection was presented on the runway at New York Fashion Week. Two dresses from the collection are also on display and available for pre-order in-store.

Italian Chamber Says No to Immediacy (25 Feb 2016)

Duomo di Milano | Source: Shutterstock

According to Carlo Capasa, president of Italy's fashion chamber, "The difference between creating a desire and satisfying a need is the difference between slow fashion and fast fashion."

Speaking to the Associated Press during Milan Fashion Week, Capasa said the incubation period between the presentation of a designer's collection and its arrival in stores is necessary "for people to understand the message. Because if a creator is a true creative, he is proposing something that doesn't really exist."

"New York has always been the land of branding and marketing. We and France, we are more the area of creativity and manufacturing," Boselli said. "I think the logic is different. They follow their interest, we follow ours."

Prada Makes Bags Available to Buy After Runway Show (25 Feb 2016)

Prada Cahier bags | Source: Courtesy

Prada has announced that two bags from its Autumn/Winter 2016 will be available to buy in select stores and online shortly after the brand’s runway show at Milan Fashion Week today — marking a compromise between the methods of brands like Burberry, which will make its whole collection available immediately after runway events, and brands like Chanel and Dior, which have pledged to stick to the current runway calendar.

The Pionniere and Cahier bags will be available for purchase at key Prada stores in Milan, Paris and London and New York stores on Friday 26 February, and will arrive in its New York store in early March.

French Fédération Rejects Calendar Overhaul (25 Feb 2016)

Ralph Toledano | Photo: Arts Fashion Foundation

The board of the Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode has unanimously decided to maintain its current calendar, in which fashion shows take place months before the collections hit the shop floor.

The decision was made by a task force (comprising Sidney Toledano, chief executive officer of Dior, and Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion, amongst others), which the federation appointed to review its options, after the CFDA hired Boston Consulting Group to do the same for New York Fashion Week.

"We have a common position on this issue," federation president Ralph Toledano told WWD. "As far as we are concerned, the present system is still valid." Toledano added that fashion businesses in France are "extremely healthy" and "our clientele is educated and informed on how the system works."

Calendar Shake-Up 'Negates the Dream' of Luxury, Says Pinault (21 Feb 2016)

François-Henri Pinault | Source: Courtesy

Making collections available to buy immediately after runway shows “negates the dream” of luxury, according to Francois-Henri Pinault, chief executive officer of Kering.

Pinault told Bloomberg that making consumers wait up to six months to buy a collection "creates desire," but conceded that, "There are some brands for which a runway show is a communications event." Pinault's comments came Friday, after Kering-owned Gucci recorded its strongest revenue growth in three years.

Bergdorf Goodman Hosts Pre-Order Events, Days After Runway Shows (17 Feb 2016)

Bergdorf Goodman | Source: Wikimedia Commons

New York department store Bergdorf Goodman will launch a series of “Right from the Runway” in-store events, where customers will be able to pre-order Autumn/Winter 2016 collections by designers including Altuzarra, Jason Wu and Michael Kors, days after their presentations at New York Fashion Week. Some designers — including Prabal Gurung, Brandon Maxwell and Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse — will present their collections in person.

“Everyone’s talking about immediate gratification — so we’ve invited several of our designers to come to Bergdorf Goodman in the days immediately after the shows and let our customers touch and feel the collection and make their selections for the season ahead,” said Joshua Schulman, president of Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus Group International.

Michael Kors Adds Shoppable Capsule Collection to Runway Show (15 Feb 2016)

Michael Kors Spring/Summer 2016 | Source: Courtesy

Michael Kors’ Autumn/Winter 2016 runway show on 17 February will include a capsule collection that will go on sale immediately after the event, via the American designer’s e-commerce store and its Collection store on Madison Avenue, which will feature the eight-piece line-up in its windows that afternoon.

The capsule, which the New York-based designer terms "Ready-to-Wear, Ready to Go," will include apparel, shoes and handbags. “Our customer doesn’t think in terms of seasons, she just thinks about what works for her life and what she’s in love with,” the designer said in a statement. “I thought it would be a great idea to give her the opportunity to sprinkle some key items from the runway into her current wardrobe.”

Paco Rabanne Illustrates In-Season Strategy With Patrick Demarchelier-Shot Campaign (12 Feb 2016)

Paco Rabanne Spring/Summer 2016 | Source: Courtesy

Puig-owned Paco Rabanne has enlisted Patrick Demarchelier, one of the world's most famous photographers, to capture four looks from its Autumn/Winter 2016 collection, which will be instantly available to buy after the brand's Paris Fashion Week show on 3 March. Demarchelier's campaign images will be released the day before the runway show via outdoor, digital and print advertisements. "The idea is to make it real for the customer, not just something that you see through the eyes of a magazine or some editor," said Anouck Duranteau-Loeper, chief executive officer of fashion at Paco Rabanne, who has helped bring the brand to 100 doors over the past two years. "It's a new way to talk to the market."

After the show, the four looks by artistic director Julien Dossena will be immediately available to purchase online and in Paco Rabanne's boutique on Paris's Rue Cambon, which opened in January. The looks will also be available in the US at Barneys New York just weeks after the show. "It took a lot of energy and time," Duranteau-Loeper said of the project. Barneys buyers, for instance, placed preliminary orders before seeing prices and sketches of the four looks. "But as we are very small, we are also quite agile."

Tommy Hilfiger Embraces Direct-to-Consumer Shows (12 Feb 2016)

The finale to the Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2016 show | Source: Courtesy

Starting in September 2016, Tommy Hilfiger will stage fashion shows targeting consumers, with full collections instantly available for sale after the show. That month, the brand will debut its TommyXGigi capsule collection, created in collaboration with model Gigi Hadid, in a runway event that will air on a “global multi-media broadcast network." Immediately after the event, the collection will be available to buy via the company’s retail stores and e-commerce, as well as its wholesale partners.

“For over 15 years we’ve been creating a fusion between entertainment and fashion,” the designer said. “This gives us the perfect platform to expand upon that." The September show will also feature select items from Tommy Hilfiger’s Autumn/Winter 2016 collection, which will be unveiled to press and buyers on Monday 15 February as part of the traditional NYFW calendar.

But the move to align runway and retail will take full effect in February 2017, when the brand's Spring/Summer 2017 collection will be revealed and made immediately available to purchase across its more-than-20,000 points of sale and 1,500 stores. This will not alter the buying cycle: the Spring/Summer 2017 collection will be shown privately to buyers and editors in September 2016.

In coming seasons, the PVH Corp-owned American fashion brand also plans to embrace "seasonless" collections and eventually combine its menswear and womenswear into one show.

Cédric Charlier to Show Two Collections in January and June (11 Feb 2016)

Cédric Charlier Spring/Summer 2016 | Photo Alfredo Piola

Belgian designer Cédric Charlier, who launched his namesake label in 2012 after stints at Lanvin and Cacharel, will show two collections per year, in June and January, instead of the usual four. This June, Charlier will present his Pre-Spring 2017 and Spring/Summer 2017 collections together, at a single runway show in New York. After New York, the collections will be shown to additional retailers and editors in Milan and Paris. “We’re overconsuming clothes. It’s not good for creativity,” Charlier told BoF. “I prefer to focus on one collection and to propose one message each season.”

“The first thing was the creativity, but the second thing was the buyers,” he added. “They are more than ready.” The designer is proposing three deliveries of the two collections, to ensure near-continual newness on the sales floor. The June 2016 collection will begin arriving in stores in mid-November 2016, with a final delivery in mid-February 2017. The January 2017 collection drops will begin in mid-June and end in mid-September 2017. “With three deliveries, I can offer different product for the right moment,” said Charlier, who plans to tailor deliveries to be more seasonally appropriate.

Proenza Schouler Launches Early Edition (11 Feb 2016)

Proenza Schouler Hava bag Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: Courtesy

For Pre-Fall 2016, Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez embargoed images of their collection until May, when it arrives in stores. For Autumn/Winter 2016, a more ambitious plan is underway. A selection of eight looks, comprising ten items of clothing and four bags, will be available for immediate purchase at 10am on Thursday 18 February, hours after the designers’ runway show on 17 February.

The range, named Proenza Schouler Early Edition, will be shoppable at the brand's brick-and-mortar store in downtown Manhattan. (Clients in the uptown location will be able to request items, since the two stores share inventory.) Key clients will also have the opportunity to pre-order additional pieces from the collection at an exclusive in-store event, the day after the show. The four new iterations of its “Hava” bag will also be available to purchase on Proenza Schouler's e-commerce site.

“The customer is watching these runway shows. By the time it ships six months later, it’s kind of old news to them,” McCollough told BoF. “We wanted to shorten that time frame, make some pieces and see how they would react. We don’t want to make any rash decisions or a huge change just yet. It’s an experiment.”

Indeed, manufacturing wares to coincide with the runway date was no small undertaking, even though they were produced in limited quantities and will be sold through the brand’s direct retail channels only. “Four months before the show, we had the collection drawn,” Hernandez explained. Looks that the designers "felt confident about" went into production "months ago,” he added.

It’s a quiet but potentially significant step for Proenza Schouler. Last June, Castanea Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, bought a minority stake in the brand. Castanea’s Ron Frasch, former president and chief merchandiser at Saks Fifth Avenue, also joined the company on an interim basis as chief executive officer.

“We’ll see how this performs and take it from there," said McCollough. "If it’s sold out a week after the show, then we’ll definitely push it further.”

Wes Gordon Hosts Instagram-Powered Trunk Show (11 Feb 2016)

Wes Gordon Autumn/Winter 2016 | Photo: Kat Irlin

New York-based designer Wes Gordon, whose business relies heavily on in-person trunk shows, will eschew the traditional runway format and instead release his Autumn/Winter 2016 collection on Instagram via a series of short videos at 10am EST on 12 February, Gordon’s scheduled slot in the New York Fashion Week calendar.

Each moving image, styled by Julia Von Boehm and directed by Kate Irlin, will click through to Moda Operandi’s Instagram page, where users will be prompted to pre-order items online via the e-commerce site. It’s a short-term solution for a smaller company that might not be able to speed up its production schedules the way a more vertically-integrated brand can.

“This format is an open door, an invitation to the world,” Gordon told BoF. “It's not a replacement for seeing the garments in person but it is an opportunity to experience the collection in a poetic and hopefully easy way. It can be difficult to create a world in six minutes and four white walls.”

Paul Smith Streamlines Collections (8 Feb 2016)

Paul Smith Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: Indigital.tv

British designer Paul Smith will merge his design teams and collapse his many diffusion lines into two collections — Paul Smith, and the more affordable PS by Paul Smith — comprising both men's and womenswear, with four drops a year.

Eventually, the production timeline for men’s and women’s will run in parallel, although it will take some time to adjust, as menswear sells in January and June and womenswear in February/March and September. Paul Smith will continue to show menswear in Paris and womenswear in London, plus a presentation at London Collections: Men.

“I think the world has gone mad,” Smith told BoF. “There’s this absolute horrendous disease of greed and over-expansion and unnecessary, massive over-supply of product.” The restructure will cost close to £1 million and reduce the number of products by the brand by 5 to 10 percent each year for the next two years.

Vetements' Plan to Disrupt the Fashion System (5 Feb 2016)

Vetements Spring/Summer 2016 | Source: Vetements

Vetements, the Paris-based design collective led by Demna Gvasalia, will roll out a new operating model later this year, designed to streamline the production cycle and take advantage of pre-collection timing.

Going forward, Vetements will show its two annual collections during the pre-collection schedule in June and January, rather than during the main fashion seasons. The move will solve problems in the production cycle, extend the length of time products are in stores, and take advantage of the fact that stores allocate a bigger budget to pre-collections than main collections.

“The whole industry runs so fast because we need to deliver something new to the store every two weeks so the client isn’t bored,” Gvasalia told BoF. “They don’t want to wait for six months, so we have the pre-collection, the pre-pre-collection, and the main collection, which nobody is buying, so it all just ends up on a sales rack.”

Tom Ford Shifts Show to Match Retail Cycle (5 Feb 2016)

Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2016 | Source: Courtesy

Tom Ford will present his Autumn/Winter 2016 menswear and womenswear collections in September, rather than on 18 February during New York Fashion Week, as had originally been scheduled. The collections will be available to buy online and in-store on the day of the presentation, closing the gap between runway and retail.

“In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to consumers is an antiquated idea and one that could no longer makes sense,” Ford said in a statement. “We have been living with a fashion calendar and system that is from another era.”

Burberry Aligns Runway and Retail Calendar (5 Feb 2016)

The finale of Burberry's womenswear Spring/Summer 2016 show | Source: Burberry

Starting in September, Burberry will combine its men's and women's offerings into one unified collection, to be shown twice a year at runway events during London Fashion Week. (The brand will no longer stage two annual menswear shows at London Collections: Men, but will retain a presence at the event.)

Immediately after the shows, the full collection will be available to buy both online and in-store, supported by digital and print advertising campaigns, which will launch as soon as the show ends. The new collections will be “seasonless” and branded “February” and “September” rather than Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter.

"I hope that what we'll be able to do is create a moment that feels relevant when the customer actually sees it, rather than telling him or her they've got to wait until five or six months after we've excited them," Burberry's chief executive and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey told BoF.

Editor’s Note: This article was revised on 1 March, 2015. An earlier version of this article misstated that Prada's Pionniere and Cahier bags would be available online after the brand's runway show. The bags were made available in Prada's key stores in Paris, London, Milan and New York only.

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