After Topshop in London and Mango in Barcelona, Paris hosted a slew of big names in ready-to-wear fashion showing their collections outside the mainstream Fashion Week calendar. Meanwhile, the shows are now available for viewing on the Internet. Deciphering a phenomenon that is disturbing and much talked about. In a grandiose show featuring live singers, Etam opened this Paris Fashion Week season in grand style with a sixth show broadcast live on the Net, presenting the Lingerie and Swimwear collections featuring Natalia Vodianova. But the Etam group was not the only one. Another apparel giant chose to show its collections in much the same way: the Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M. A premiere was held under a marquee built especially for the occasion in the gardens of the Musée Rodin. An enormous construction (1,500m2 with 18 rooms), the decorations were produced by Bureau Betak which is more used to working with Christian Dior, Viktor & Rolf and John Galliano. Meanwhile, on Tuesday 5 March, Zadig & Voltaire showed for the second time in the fashion calendar. Although the phenomenon began in Paris, it is also affecting other capitals where the trade names are showing in large numbers, such as London (Topshop) and Barcelona (Mango and Desigual). Stop imitation, give way to creation “Whilst the idea is predominantly to score a media coup, the message from these retail brands is loud and clear: they also wish to show that they are forces to be reckoned with in fashion and that they are not waiting for the major designers' fashion shows just so that they can copy them,” explains Pascal Monfort, consultant and founder of the Pascal Monfort consultancy dedicated to the fashion sector. Is fast fashion copying? Not any more, if you believe the shows that they presented for the 2013 Fall-Winter season. Fast fashion is perhaps a little slower as it normally works at a hectic pace to capture the trend of the moment. It is a quiet revolution, for which it should allow itself a pat on the back. “Although these shows took place outside the mainstream Fashion Week calendar, it does not stop them from mastering the codes and the process, like Etam or H&M. Even better, they prove that they have the same resources as the big luxury houses, if not greater, and do things on a large scale,” Pascal Monfort emphasizes. This is disturbing for the young designers and rising talents for whom it is essential to have a visible profile during fashion week. “It is difficult to persuade fashion buyers and professionals to come to see our collections in a calendar that has become fuller,” confirms Christine Phung in the Designers Apartment showroom organised by the Fédération Française de la Couture with the aid of DEFI. And these shows by the big names undisputedly blur the identity of the product world. “We are asked to be commercial although it is the spectacular that makes people talk about you.” “These shows don’t affect me because fashion must stay open minded,” confides fashion designer Naco. “On the other hand, why don’t these undisputed economic powers support us more by offering co-branding, for example? We are the first to be open to that.” Live behind the scenes Finally, what is better than a live show to give a popular brand more glamor? For two seasons now all Fashion Weeks have been open to this kind of broadcasting. Two sites, Nowfashion.com and Style.com, broadcast the shows live and in photographs. The model is seen from head to foot, as well as the details of the figures and behind the scenes. This is a principle that most brands have included in their budgets. “In only a few years, shows have gone from absolute confidentiality to absolute exposure and that is worrying,” confides Pascal Monfort. Topshop took the experience even further at its last show in February entitled “The Future of the Fashion Show”. In fact, in association with Google, the English fashion giant put on a show that was broadcast live from the basement of the Tate Modern (where the show took place) on the brand’s YouTube-page, and in addition, each model was equipped with a mini camera that followed her every step. “Previously, it was the big names that created the buzz and had the wildest parties,” Pascal Monfort continues. “Today, brands such as H&M have completely divested themselves of their complexes about all of that and now organise the most popular evenings”. So, fast fashion has the glamour, but there are also problems with reproduction for the big luxury names that now put on live shows six months before the collections come out in the stores. “We’re in a perverse system, but it’s not without interest,” Naco concludes. “From my perspective, as in a restaurant, I come to see the showing of a brand for its image, its sincerity. What’s the point of looking in the kitchen? If I see too much, I lose my appetite!” Céline Vautard, Foto's: Stéphane Fugier Source: Fashion United
