This time New York Fashion Week was a bit different. Well, on a personal level it was pretty much the same as like last years. But I was just remembering my first time I walked and woah, a lot changed. My perspective changed as well. I’ve attended a couple of shows – one runaway, one opening party, and a showcase – plus I got the chance to walk in one show for African By Art. However, as a fashion junkie with a hint of investigative and journalistic attitude, I couldn’t ignore the news around fashion week and how the whole business around it is drastically changing.
There were articles and people claiming that fashion week is not anymore a trending thing. And I could see it. I realized that Fashion Week events, specifically New York Fashion Week, is becoming a whole series of multimedia events intertwined with fashion, but not just merely into or specifically about fashion. What is trending in New York is the market and the fluidity that the industry is facing on a daily basis, every season. This is indeed the reflection of a city and society full of diversity. For this reason, a variety of performances and representation is demanded and expected in a centre like the Big Apple.
Now with London‘s and Milan‘s fashion week it is possible to see more upscale and niched events. It is the reflect also of the new old continent: elegant, classy, conservative, feeding mostly the highest positions of the fashion’s hierarchy, in terms of audiences and consumers. However, no matter how different the targets might be or where we are, the fashion industry is working hand in hand with the younger generations, by satisfying their needs and philosophies. In order to stick up to an ideology or a statement, millennials and gen Z members are more willing to purchase and support a business’s idea rather than their products.
I came to the conclusion that fashion is being more global and inclusive, as well as divided and stagnant in their marketing mobility. This could be an aspect of the industry prone to change, but at the moment this is what it looks like. And I’m not talking only about clothes, but also accessories and beauty products.
All these issues rise up solutions and plans that are taking space in the market. Is it a solution to shift events like New York Fashion Week from a fashion manifestation to an assemble of fashion-related events, in such a massive way? Where is the future of fashion. I believe that it’s gonna be worldwide spread, with no more a centre, unless we’re considering the economics – whose center looks like to stil be between New York, London and Milan. However, besides sustainability, are there any other plans that we should consider to implement in fashion? More observations to come.