Those (Michael Kors) giving up their usual fashion week to start their own business. Those (Ermanno Daelli), while embracing discreet luxury, not giving up flash products that urge the market. And those (Hussein Chalayan) taking advantage to reinvestigate and rethink themselves. CRV wave effect on the fashion system has not ended yet. The silence of the past few weeks shall not be misleading. Giorgio Armani‘s appeal to luxury to take advantage of the pandemic shock to revise its identity has put the business in turmoil. Thoughts are by no means over.
CRV effect on Kors
The most interesting blow is Michael Kors, we said. The CRV wave leads the designer to decide to quit the New York Fashion Week program and to announce its own solo show, in October or November. This has to do with the effects of the virus. On the one hand, because the FW collection is late, while the SS 2021 is still in production: it is “essential to give the consumer the time to absorb autumn deliveries – are his words from Vogue -, which will arrive in September, so as to do not confuse them with an overabundance of additional ideas, new seasons, products and images”.
On the other hand, Kors is not indifferent to the cultural process that invests fashion: “It is exciting for me to see the open dialogue within the fashion community on the calendar – he continues -, on the ways in which we can slow down the process and improve the way we we work. We all had time to think and analyse things, and I think many agree that it is time for a new approach to a new era”.
Thoughts at Ermanno Scervino’s
At Ermanno Scervino’s, meanwhile, they are thinking about the repercussions of the virus, of course, but without giving up some points of the distribution strategy. Discretion will be preferred, to begin with: “There will certainly not be as many spangles as before, it is not the time for aftermath and ostentation, and designers will have to adapt – explains Ermanno Daelli, co-founder and designer of the brand, to Il Messaggero -. The bet will be played on a renewed sense of modesty which, however, does not mean minimalism.
I have already started designing clothes that are more oriented towards everyday life, but without ever betraying our DNA”. There is no need, however, to ban capsules: “Intermediate collections are necessary to refresh the product in the shops – continues Daelli -. At times like this, it is necessary to give a greater service and pamper customers with flash products, because the world is going faster than the pandemic”.
Chalayan takes advantage of it, in a way
The lockdown imposed a stop on Hussein Chalayan, who was unable to produce the samples for the men’s summer collection. The designer, however, took advantage of it, in a certain way, to study: “Isolation has given me the opportunity to review my archives – he tells MFF -, reviewing 26 years of collections. I am more sure of what I want to do in the future: I want to produce less and rather focus on essential items”. The process also involves a different relationship with the public: it is better to “connect with customers, get to know them personally, than aiming at obtaining visibility in the press”.
Read also:
- Brands and designers in revolt: “No fast-fashion, let’s go back to seasons”
- Gucci breaks the silence: we will meet twice a year, with no seasons
- According to Wintour, luxury has to slow down: the virus is a catastrophe
