These sessions were very useful and relevant, particularly Day 2 ‘The Future of Fashion’ as that is something I am exploring in my work and as a Media practitioner in general.
Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, Chloé’s Natacha Ramsay-Levi, and Balenciaga CEO Cedric Charbit gathered on Zoom with Vogue Runway’s Nicole Phelps to expand on how fashion shows can and should change in the future, both digitally and in real life. They meditated on the value of virtual fashion shows versus physical ones, the inclusivity a digital-first world brings, and how this experience gives the industry an opportunity to reset and rethink how it does business.
The runway show was being questioned anyway because of its carbon footprint, the enormous expense and questioned for the travelling aspect – department stores spend most money on pre-collections.
The digital is there to amplify.
What’s lost by the online fashion show and what’s gained? How would you create that sense of community in a virtual way?
“The role of artists and thinkers in society is to raise visibility of what is not yet visible in the public – they give us the opportunity to dream.” The business model of the fashion show has to be re-wired – Chloe
Balmain were thinking about involving the public more in their shows. Push the digital now more than ever. – Balmain
Balenciaga already staged immersive fashion shows with scent video etc. 600 fashion show physical viewers vs 10m digital. Is our audience physical or digital? Manage an experience both online and offline that are equally relevant for the people. Make sure the digital reach is just the same as the physical as opposed to posting a video on an online platform. VR isn’t accessible to all without the headset. We now need to inject tech into how we convey messages and communicate with people, even in the showrooms and the fashion shows. Finally tech and fashion are in sync and are merging, because they need one another. – Balenciaga
How might shows change? possibly all digital and combining men and women’s shows. VR.
One global fashion month – only having one fashion month per year which switches between the fashion capitals alternatively each year
“with digital my dreams can be pushed to the extreme, I could put my show on the moon if I wanted to or in the clouds, physical is more about the emotional connection with the people in the room”
How can we do justice to the craftsmanship of the clothing and replicate the warmth of collections in a 2d virtual space? This is the problem we have to solve – reevaluate and rethink.
There is a magical side of it and a very poetic aspect that needs to be kept.