it’s about that time again, the month-long circus extravaganza known as the spring/summer shows. this season more than ever, there is much to pay attention to. even if you aren’t a follower of fashion, some of the changes will impact how we’ll dress every day.
1. buy now, wear now. it’s that fashion show conundrum that we’ve been talking about but many conglomerates don’t want to implement (except burberry and tommy hilfiger)—it’s september, so why will the runways be flooded with clothes we can’t buy until march? enter brands like diane von furstenberg, club monaco, thakoon, rebecca minkoff, tom ford, and more. instead of showing spring 2017, these brands are showing fall 2016 product that is available to purchase right after each show. in many cases, the designers are also producing spring 2017, just showing samples to buyers and long-lead time publications. will more brands catch on and actually show fashion the way real people wear fashion (and make shows more ?
2. old faces, new places. raf simons at calvin klein, maria grazia chiuri at dior. bouchra jarrar at lanvin. laura kim and fernando garcia (of monse) at oscar de la renta. anthony vaccarello at saint laurent. new creative directors are taking the reins at some major brands that have been at the forefront of leading trends for years. all of these designers (save kim and garcia, who were previously at odlr before leaving to start monse) have led other brands (some more than one…looking at you raf) so it will be interesting to see what freshness they’ll bring to their new gigs. and as an aside, how will pierpaolo piccioli continue to print money at valentino on his own and what does olivier theyskens bring to the table designing for himself?
3. the change-up. the cfda did a long exploration earlier this year about how to make fashion week better and they concluded…it needed to change. ok, but how to do that? some brands have made the shows an experience and open to the public—think yeezy season (you can watch today at 3pm EST if you’re a tidal subscriber). tommy hilfiger is hosting a carnival with gigi hadid, rebecca minkoff’s show is going to be right in front of her grand street flagship, opening ceremony’s is a “performance” featuring fred armisen and carrie brownstein of portlandia and whoopi goldberg, and tom ford is back to his dinner/performance that he did for his first solo runway show (and will also be livestreamed on e!).
4. get tech. brands are embracing snapchat more than ever, with vogue launching a new snap channel yesterday (with features from kim kardashian and miranda kerr). google, long on the edges of being hip at fashion week, is trying to push to the forefront by implementing search that will generate content from the designers’ shows. they’ve brought in former elle and maxim editor kate lanphear to lead the effort, so this feels more legit.
5. street style backlash. remember a few years ago when “normcore” was a thing? if you look at street style photos, it really is a thing with street style stars. women like giorgia tordini, annina mislin, leila yavari, sarah davis and more have perfected the un-uniform of bomber and army jackets, 501’s, the mid-height or chunky low heel, sweaters, and *gasp* sneakers. i’m sure someone will attempt the balenciaga puffer, but for the most part, i’m feeling a much more low-key approach to fashion week dressing, more in line with how the rest of us are putting ourselves together right now.
