Virtual & Physical Fashion Shows: Live Updates & Everything You Need to Know as It Happens with Louis Vuitton’s Itinerant Trunk Show, Jacquemus’ Secret Show in Paris & More
Stephanie Hirschmiller
European Editor
While uncertainty still abounds regarding the volatile health situation and attendant travel concerns, intelligence on the year’s fashion calendar and upcoming fashion show schedule is coming thick and fast. News of virtual and physical fashion shows and presentations is being constantly updated. However, in an effort to keep readers in the know, FN has compiled the following resource that will be updated live with up-to-the-minute information as soon as it is released.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the full fashion calendar schedule, both virtual and physical, for the rest of 2020.
Louis Vuitton Takes Its Shows on the Road
July 9, 2020: Next luxury brand to step outside the traditional fashion calendar is Louis Vuitton. Don’t expect to see a digital version of Virgil Abloh’s men’s spring ’21 collection tomorrow. This will be replaced by a short film mixing live action with animated Manga like characters that Abloh has dubbed ‘Zoooom with Friends’. The film marks the start of an international tour, or extended ‘trunk show’ which will kick on with a physical fashion show in Shanghai on Aug. 6 and then in Tokyo at a later date. The spring ’21 collection will be called ‘Message in a Bottle.’ The collection will also introduce a sustainability initiative involving recycling and upcycling plus reissues of previous pieces.
Jacquemus To Stage a Secret Show in Paris
July 8, 2020: “I’m happy to announce and show our new collection “L’amour,” Jacquemus announced tonight via Instagram. The designer will show his spring ’21 collection near Paris in a secret location towards the end of the day on July 18 with a very limited number of guests and in full respect of social distancing rules.
“A year ago we decided to slow down our cycle by showing womenswear and menswear together in January and June,” the designer said in a statement. “This allows us to reduce the number of shows, mutualize fabrics for menswear and womenswear and slower the pace for my team and partners. More than a creative choice, it’s a sustainable model we believe in and that works for us.”
Balmain to Kick off Couture with a Floating Fashion & Live Music Spectacle Livestreamed on TikTok
July 2, 2020: On Sunday evening, Balmain‘s Olivier Rousteing is staging a physical fashion show and live music spectacle that is both democratic and socially distanced while scoring high on the social media stakes. The action, comprising a mix of archival and more recent fashions, mini concert by French singer Yseult and dance performance will take place on a barge cruising down Paris’ River Seine. As well as providing a free evening’s live entertainment for picnickers on the river banks, it will also be livestreamed — not on Instagram, though, mind, but exclusively on Tik Tok. The event is art directed by Andrew Makadsi who also works with with Beyoncé and will feature the dancers and choreographer Jean-Charles Jousni from his last men’s fashion show. According to Rousteing, the event is also loosely inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mugler Recalibrates Its Calendar
July 2, 2020: Under the creative direction of Casey Cadwallader, Mugler is consolidating its collections from four to two per year. The idea, says the brand, is “to recalibrate the internal calendar to reshape the output, harmonize the delivery cycle, and define the place of the house in the wider fashion ecosystem.”
This pivot starts in September 2020 when the brand will present collections in a ‘See Now, Buy Now, Wear Now’ format, via partnerships with key retailers, its own e-commerce site and consumer centric drops. During September’s Paris Fashion Week, it will show an edited selection of its spring ’21 collection which will be available for immediate purchase on its e-commerce platforms and through selected partners.
The complete collection will be shown and sold to buyers under embargo in December 2020. Then a full scale presentation event will be held during Paris Fashion Week in February 2021. Deliveries to mugler.com, online and physical retailers will start from March 2021.
Paris Fashion Week Men’s Online, the Schedule
July 1, 2020: The schedule for the ‘men’s shows’ running from July 9 to July 13 was released today. Highlights are as follows with all timings on Europe hours which is CET +1. Do the maths according to your own locale.
Thursday July 9: JW Anderson at 13:00, Y/Project at 14:30, Berluti at 17:00.
Friday July 10: Louis Vuitton at 14:30, Rick Owens at 18:00, Dries Van Noten at 19:00.
Saturday July 11: Casablanca at 16:30; Isabel Marant Homme at 17:30; Balmain Homme at 20:30.
Sunday July 12: Loewe at 12:00, Hermes at 20:00.
Monday July 13: Phipps at 11:30, Dior Homme at 14:30, Thom Browne at 15:00.
Paris Haute Couture Week Online & Paris Fashion Week Men’s Online
June 29, 2020: The couture week online schedule has just been released (see last entry for details). However, while we’re still waiting on the official schedule for men’s, French fashion’s governing body, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) has revealed that both couture and men’s online fashion week incarnations will be powered by technology company, Launchmetrics.
With separate dedicated platforms for each, the action will take place on spaces both accessible to the general public and those for accredited industry professionals.
There will also be a professional showroom called Sphère, hosted on the men’s platform and dedicated to young brands. It will be hosted in partnership with Paris based virtual sales platform, Le New Black and photo production agency Grand Shooting for the processing of images.
The FHCM has also signed partnerships with social networks and technology companies including YouTube, Google, Facebook and Instagram. For China, it has set up a partnership with Hylink, the largest independent digital communication agency from China, through which it will cooperate with the most important Chinese social networks.
Like Milan, digital events will initially take place at scheduled times and then remain online to be viewed at leisure. Similarly they will feature a combination of fashion films, performances, conferences, conversations and behind the scenes footage.
Y/Project, for instance, which has already unveiled its coed spring ’21 collection, commencing its online showroom for retail buyers as of June 26, will also feature a how-to video of how to wear the brand’s often complex garments.
Proceedings will commence with the online iteration of Paris Couture Week from July 6 to 8 and follow with spring ’21 men’s collections from July 9 to 13.
As hinted by the below map uploaded to the FHCM site, some of the city’s cultural institutions such as Musée du Louvre, Palais de Tokyo and Musée des Arts Décoratifs will also be involved.
Another initiative called Fashion Voices, will also go live as of July 2 where you can “immerse yourself in the sounds of Parisian men’s fashion” according to the FHCM website. Watch this space for further updates.
Paris Haute Couture Week Online: the Schedule is Revealed, Schiaparelli & More
June 29, 2020: The schedule for the ‘couture shows’ running from July 6 to July 8 was released today. Highlights are as follows with all timings on Europe hours which is CET +1. Do the maths according to your own locale.
Monday July 7: Schiaparelli at 10:00; Christian Dior at 14:30, Giambattista Valli at 19:30.
Tuesday July 8: Chanel at 12:00, Alexander Vauthier at 16:30.
Wednesday July 9: Maison Margiela at 10:00, Julie de Libran at 17:00, Valentino at 18:00.
Construe the word ‘shows’ lightly though. Online happenings would be closer to the mark as brands are basically all doing their own thing. Take Schiaparelli, the maison will open the week with a documentary exploring the world of creative director Daniel Roseberry, sketching outfits while he was on lockdown in New York.
Interestingly, in a real first for the maison, following the event, jewelry and accessories will be available to buy via its Instagram account @Schiaparelli. We are hoping to see some of the quirky ‘measuring tape’ sandals that walked the runway in Janyary. The film will be a precursor for an Haute Couture capsule that will be revealed in December in Los Angeles. Don’t forget that last year Roseberry dressed Beyoncé for the Golden Globes.
Milan Fashion Week, Digital
June 29, 2020: The Camera Nazionale della Moda (governing body of Milan Fashion Week) has revealed the schedule for the city’s digital fashion week that will run July 14 – 17. As stands, 37 brands are due to take part presenting their spring ’21 men’s lines and men’s and women’s pre-collections. There will be defined hourly time slots with each label at liberty to showcase via its preferred format. Events will play out on a digital platform implemented in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft. They will then remain available until the end of the week. Brands taking part include MSGM, Prada, Alberta Ferretti, Etro, Ferragamo, Tod’s and Gucci. The platform will also feature ‘virtual rooms’ curated by industry personalities. These will be themed on topics such as sustainability, technical innovation and diversity.
Valentino
June 26, 2020: Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli will stage a virtual event during Paris Digital Couture Week on July 8 and a live performance on July 21 in Rome. The first will reveal the inspiration behind his fall ’21 collection while the physical performance in Rome will take place at the city’s Cinecittà Studios and be attended by Italy based press. The latter will also be be broadcast live on the house’s digital channels.
Dolce&Gabbana, Alta Sartoria and Alta Moda, Pitti Immagine
June 26, 2020: While Pitti Uomo isn’t officially happening til January ’21, the organizers recently hinted that they would still be activity of some description in September. And they were as good as their word. On Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, The City of Florence and Pitti Immagine will host Dolce&Gabbana Alta Sartoria and Alta Moda shows in partnership with a selected group artisans chosen by the brand to showcase the best of Florentine craftsmanship and the Made in Italy tradition. The events – which will be streamed on the web platforms of Pitti Immagine and Dolce&Gabbana, will also be attended by invited guests. The initiatives are promoted by the Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana and Pitti Immagine in collaboration with the City of Florence.
Copenhagen Fashion Week
June 25, 2020: This week, Copenhagen Fashion Week announced that the event, due to take place Aug. 9 to 12 will embrace a new hybrid format of both virtual and physical shows. As the first of the post pandemic fashion weeks to stage live events, it is sure to garner major attention from the entire fashion industry who will be watching eagerly to see how it plays out. While the Danish city is not traditionally considered one of the big four fashion capitals, it has cool appeal in spades and is also well know for its high sustainability credentials.
Dior Haute Couture Show, Fall ’21
June 24, 2020: The maison has just released a Save the Date for July 6, 20:30 ECT, during Paris Digital Couture Week.
Paris Fashion Week, Spring 21
June 24, 2020: Paris Fashion Week’s governing body, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) has announced that PFW spring ’21 ready-to-wear shows will go ahead this fall. They will take place from September 28 to October 6 and, according to the FHCM, will be realized in both physical and virtual format with both live events and digital versions via the Paris Fashion Week Online platform. Due to the volatile health situation, and the fact that brands are communicating their plans on an individual basis, the only real information the FHCM can offer at present is that activities will comply with the recommendations of the relevant public authorities. Thus far, Saint Laurent has said that it will not show in line with the traditional 2020 calendar, preferring to set its “own rhythm”. Likewise Dries van Noten and Off-White.
Zegna, Spring ’21
June 23, 2020: Ermenegildo Zegna sent out Save the Date email invitations for its XXX spring ’21 collection. Dubbed by Alessandro Sartori as a “phygital show,” it will take place at 09:00 EST on July 17 during Milan Digital Fashion Week. Guests are invited to view it virtually with the promise of further details “in the near future.”
Burberry, Spring ’21
June 23, 2020: The show will take place physically September 17, in an outdoor location somewhere in the United Kingdom. However, according to Riccardo Tisci, there won’t be any physical guests present. One and all will will be able to watch it, albeit via their computer screen.
Dior, Resort ’21
June 22, 2020: The house’s resort ’21 show which was originally scheduled for May 27 will now take place July 22 in Lecce, a baroque town in the south of Italy. There will be no physical audience but the show will be broadcast live, so, in effect, will be open to all.
London Fashion Week, Digital
June 14, 2020: This took place June 12 to June 14 in a genderless, seasonless, digital iteration via a specially created digital platform, accessible for both fashion industry professionals and general public alike. Going forward, all content will remain online and be available to watch at any point. As for the content itself, this was a mix of fashion films, Q&As and the odd see-now-buy-now collection — notably Netflix “Next in Fashion” star Daniel w. Fletcher. It was also strong on emerging talent and diversity including British West Indian men’s designer Bianca Saunders who launched a zine and hosted a panel discussion and Charles Jeffrey Loverboy who launched a capsule. However, although content was, for the most part, slick and well executed, due to a lack of new season collections, the initiative fell somewhat flat.
Chanel, Resort ’21
June 8, 2020: Chanel unveiled its resort collection on Instagram and Chanel’s own website. The physical show had been set to take place in Capri, Italy last month but was cancelled due to the pandemic. The virtual version was presented in the form of a short film. It starred a diverse lineup of models including Mica Arganaraz, Karly Loyce, Camille Hurel and Cris Herrmann. However while it appeared to have been shot on location in Capri, it was actually the result of technical wizardry in Chanel’s Paris photography studio.
Gucci, Nominally Resort ’21
May 26, 2020: Alessandro Michele will present a virtual collection called “Epilogue” on July 17 during Milan Digital Fashion Week. This will be an iteration of his resort collection initially scheduled for May 18 in San Francisco. The cast will comprise the team from Michele’s own office as opposed to traditional models. However, the brand has said that going forward, it will only show only twice a year instead of five times. Shows will be coed and will generally take place in fall and spring — likely falling outside the parameters of the traditional fashion calendar.
The Virtual and Physical Fashion Show Schedule for the Rest of 2020
Milan Digital Fashion Week, Men’s
Scheduled July 14 to July 17.
Paris Digital Fashion Week, Men’s
Scheduled July 9 to July 13.
Paris Digital Couture Week
Scheduled July 6 to 8
London Fashion Week Digital
June 12 to June 14, 2020.
New York Fashion Week, Spring ’21
Scheduled to commence Sept. 11, 2020.
London Fashion Week, Spring ’21
Scheduled Sept. 18 to 22, 2020.
Paris Fashion Week, Spring 21
Scheduled Sept. 28 to Oct. 6, 2020.
Want More?
READ: Innovators, analysts and PR consultants weigh as to whether Instagram and virtual fashion shows can replace the real thing
READ: Industry heavyweights Tommy Hilfiger and more on whether digital shows can replace the fashion week experience.
