Its been hard reading WWD, Fashion Week Daily, and other daily fashion publications lately given all the cut-backs — Carmen Marc Valvo, DKNY, Vera Wang, and Betsey Johnson are just some of the big names that have already announced they will not show at the Bryant Park tents during New York Fashion Week. Fendi and Marni won’t do Men’s shows this year and Zac Posen is putting his planned contemporary line on hold. Donna Karan and Calvin Klein’s Francesco Costa are cutting back their collections — and that’s just a slither of all the bad news. At this point I’m wondering what the fate of Fashion Week even is this year. What are your thoughts on the fate of Fashion Week or Fashion Month rather if you consider New York, London, Milan, and Paris collectively? Is it inappropriate for designers to have big shows this year?
Absolutely not inappropriate….as a country we need to go forward, and not sulk. I do think the extravagance of past seasons should and will be played down. Functional, yet fun, should be the theme. After all, it wasn’t the fashion industry that got us into this mess of an economy. I suspect the “sleeves rolled up” look could become popular on the runways!
The designers can lower their price points, which we have already seen happen on the retail end this season. The dollar:euro ration will be coming back into a more import friendly zone. Unfortunately, most Italian and French stores have already bought their merchandice at the higher euro. They will suffer this spring and summer. It is up to our american designers to balance that for the US market.
I totally agree with you. Thank you for your insightful comments!
I agree with Sue. As the old saying goes, “The Show Must Go On!”.
However, down scaling the shows would be appropriate.