Getting to grips with the fashion week dilemma
The weirdest fashion month ever is tentatively getting under way. New York fashion week has begun in digital earnest, with many of the biggest names, like Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, taking the decision not to show a new collection until later in the year. London, Milan and Paris will be a mix of real shows, dinners and virtual presentations, but all are at the mercy of the R rate and ever-changing restrictions.
Then there’s the parallel spectacle to the shows on the pavements as gaggles of photographers jostle to shoot the street style set – a gang of influential stylistas whose dressing decisions can have as much impact as what’s on the catwalks.
For French brand consultant and podcaster Camille Charrière, it was fashion week which launched her career as a woman with the power to set trends. Having worked in finance, she had quit to pursue a career in fashion and “decided to go along to fashion week just to go and see what it was all about”, she remembers. “As soon as I got there, I had a photographer taking my picture and the next day, it was on the front page of the Vogue website.”
This “back door” entry to the industry saw interview requests arriving within days and her social media follower numbers quickly ticking up to the 934,000 she has today.
Charrière is treading carefully when it comes to this first mid-pandemic fashion month. With so many tracking her every move, she feels a sense of responsibility to the institution upon which she’s built her reputation, but also is mindful of how her and her audience’s attitudes have altered.
“I’ve benefited from the system, I’ve had incredible opportunities and it has been amazing, but as you educate yourself, you do start thinking about these things,” she reflects. “What’s the value of being away for weeks, watching shows back-to-back every hour. How on earth are you supposed to digest what’s happening?”
If she acknowledges that this pause for thought should bring lasting change, then she also sees, “the flip side of the argument”. “Brands really need our help right now. They need visibility, they need support. So many of them are close to going under and little things like exposure can make all the difference.” Charrière has decided to sit out the shows in Milan, but will go to Paris where she has family and is working on a fashion series with French TV channel Canal Plus. “It’s a very fickle industry, obsessed with newness and constantly moving forward,” she says, “so we feel like we need to be there to keep our place.” This admission from someone widely regarded as one of fashion’s most sought-after personalities gets to the crux of the industry’s dilemma. Rest for a moment, and you risk falling out of fashion.