Giorgio Armani prepares the comeback to physical fashion shows. Of course, there will be less people, selected and positioned based on the directives for Covid19. But the brand that was an early adopter of a cautious approach back in February 2020, believes physical shows to have great symbolic value. After all, as explains Mr. Armani (in picture on the left from Imagoeconomica) to MFF is sure that fashion “can’t survive for long if it’s only virtual”. The save-the-date then, is for June 21st in Milan and later on July 6th in Paris, inside the Italian embassy.
Only virtual
“Thanks to the vaccine campaign the situation is visibly improving – admits Mr. Armani -. This will allow us, though we should be talking of an obligation, to go back to think concretely about physical fashion shows”. The gradual, cautious, but unavoidable return to physical shows, there is an important step: “I am certain that fashion – continues the designer -, can’t survive for long if it’s only virtual”. The phy-digital formats experimented in these last 15 months have taught us a lot, in terms of trying to involve fans in the brand’s ecosystem. But high-end fashion can’t hide in the digital world.
But not everything should return to the way it was
When the pandemic hit, Mr. Armani was among the first to talk about the need of high-end fashion to regenerate. In the first instance, many agreed. But we can’t say that the so-called slow-revolution took place as expected. “Fashion is returning to the point it used to be at – commented Giorgio Armani -. But giving back value to our work is a priority that we must achieve. To do so, we must make collections that are worth it and that last, not products that after a few months have no meaning. Many claims have been made regarding responsibilities, including environmental ones, regarding smaller offerings.
But it appears to me that we are slowly moving back to the way it was before, including the number of collections that come out”. Brands need to help themselves, “with longer-lasting collections in stored”. But they also need help from the government, “and not just at a moment such as this one – he concludes -. Fashion is one of the main drivers for our economy, and so it shouldn’t be considered as secondary, or a segment in which everything is the responsibility of the individual”.
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