Council Post: Why Digital Won’t Replace The Traditional Format Of Fashion Weeks

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Flying Solo 

A lot of fashion experts believed that digital fashion weeks would replace in-person shows due to traveling restrictions, budget optimizations and the fact that digital shows are not restricted by venue capacity. But a recent attempt to host London Fashion Week digitally proved the opposite (registration required). So why didn’t it work as expected? 

Exclusivity

Luxury brands traditionally reward their highest spending customers by inviting them to exclusive shows that are also attended by major press and celebrities. By spending large amounts of money on luxury goods, customers are not only getting a piece of clothing or an accessory for their wardrobe, but they are also becoming a part of the club. It’s a very exclusive club, and its members are invited to attend fashion shows and get to sit next to the most influential people in the fashion industry. Digital shows, on another hand, are about accessibility so everyone can see the newest collection at the same time from the comfort of their phone or computer. Luxury brands like Chanel already realized that hosting a digital presentation instead of a traditional in-person runway show hurt their sales. Chanel released Cruise 2021 collection via a digital look book and then immediately announced that it is planning to keep all six shows per year in the original in-person runway format and will be following the traditional fashion calendar.

Experience

It is not a secret that buying luxury items is not only about buying into quality materials or great design, but it is also about experiencing the brand. One of the most coveted experiences that a fashion brand gets to offer is attending a brand’s fashion show. Christian Dior’s Autumn/Winter 2012 Couture show had five grand rooms inside a Parisian mansion decorated with 1 million real flowers. Attendees reported that they could smell flowers from a mile away. Philipp Plein opened his SS18 show with supermodel Irina Shayk walking the runway hand in hand with a gigantic robot straight from a spaceship. Yeezy presented his SS17 collection by taking over the entire Roosevelt Island in New York City. While all of that doesn’t seem to be necessary to present new clothing/accessory designs, marketing teams behind brands know that it greatly helps brand sales and brand recognition. 

First Look

One of the other ways brands show love to celebrities and important clientele is by letting them purchase pieces right after the runway show, while everyone else has to wait another half a year until the collection is released in stores. Fashion press also gets to see collections before the general public; the higher-profile press traditionally is seated closer to the beginning of the runway so they can see fashion show looks a few seconds prior to everyone else who attends the show. This hierarchy is eliminated in digital shows because everyone gets to see them at the same time. While it might not seem important to some people, the brand’s clientele typically appreciates when the brand keeps them in VIP status, and that hugely impacts sales.

Fashion experts have been trying to advocate that digital presentations are a great solution to replace the overpriced productions of the fashion runways. But given customer response to digital shows (or rather the lack of response), I believe the traditional fashion week format is unlikely to go anywhere. However, more than ever, brands are exploring budget-friendly runway solutions such as showcasing their collection in a multibrand show so they can keep the high quality of the show production and not hurt their budget.

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