Is the fashion week model obsolete?

Events struggle to stay relevant as social media erodes exclusivity

Invitations to a fashion week were once limited to a small, elite crowd of editors and influencers in an even smaller number of style-savvy cities.

That changed when fashion blogging began. The ability to shoot and share a runway show in real time via social media eroded that exclusivity even more. Then there’s fast fashion, which allows brands to make and sell clothes almost as quickly as high-end designers can send them down a catwalk.

Does this mean the fashion week model is broken? Will there be ripple effects from Milan to Manhattan, where New York Fashion Week was to begin Wednesday? Not necessarily, but things are changing.

Toronto Fashion Week’s organizers announced last month that it planned to “pause production” this winter of its biannual event “to rethink the platform and focus on how best to engage the industry, support designers and resonate with consumers across the country,” according to a statement shared on social media.

Executive director Carolyn Quinn wouldn’t confirm if the event would return in September to showcase spring/summer 2021 collections, Refinery29 reported.

This isn’t the first time Toronto Fashion Week has taken a timeout. Limited funding prompted a hiatus in 2016. Then it got a new owner and was scaled back from seven to three days. Nevertheless, this news has once more raised the question of runway shows’ relevance.

“It’s a complicated question and answer,” says Julia DiNardo, who’s covered fashion weeks in New York, Los Angeles and overseas. “What is the significance of having a fashion week anymore? What does it stand for? I think it brings up a lot of different elements that have come into play the last 10 years with the rise of digital culture and social media.”

DiNardo, a Highland Park native who lives in Queens, N.Y., is the founder of FashionPulseDaily.com and teaches fashion studies courses at New York University. She traces some of the issues at New York Fashion Week to the event’s relocation from its longtime home in Bryant Park to the Lincoln Center in fall 2010.

Moving the event away from the Garment District created a “palpable break” in its continuity and sense of community, she says. Since then, the event has hopscotched to other venues throughout the city, with many designers opting to do their own thing at locations of their choice.

At the same time, many designers began to embrace social media in creative ways. While Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger continue to bring together fashion’s who’s who for a show, other brands have opted for digital presentations. Bahrainborn designer Misha Nonoo, for instance, has made headlines in recent years for unveiling new collections on Instagram instead of staging a traditional show. Others have held an in-person event with a small group of invited guests while also streaming it live online.

“Big brands have deep pockets. They have the resources to do something spectacular,” DiNardo says. “For everyone else, how do you get eyes on your brand? If there are other ways you can capitalize on that for less of an expense, why not?”