Fashion's New Era

Julianne Moore In Tom Ford

There is a buzz about at the moment, citing “The Fashion System is broken”  and mega brands and young designer disrupters are trying to fix it, as reported by The Business Of Fashion earlier this month.

The key message coming through is that designer fashion needs to slow down, there was once a time when collections came out twice a year from design houses, these days they can produce up to 6 collections a year! I have reported on the overload of the fashion calendar before and questioned how financially sustainable producing so many collections is. And I am not certain it is.

High street fast fashion must shoulder some of the responsibility for high end designers producing so many collections, the fast fashion market is bursting with newness on a weekly basis.  And perhaps this is why big brands feel the need to keep up. And as many of you know this is not a practice I believe in. We are overloaded with stuff, and we really don’t need more!

Tom Ford and more recently Paul Smith plan to change their business models. Ford is showing his AW16 collection in September 16 when it will be readily available to buy there and then, so no usual February 16 show for Ford. Paul Smith has decided to combine his mens and womens collection creating two per year with four drops and collapse his many diffusion lines as well as reduce his wholesale accounts. Bold moves by both and if other designers follow suit we may just see a healthier fashion system.

However one could argue that Tom Ford is aligning himself with the very nature of fast fashion by showing his collection in the current season in order to create a sense of being fast to the market rather than let the consumer wait 6 months to buy. It's certainly a riskier strategy as Ford will have to make buying decisions in house as store buyers will not get the chance to buy the collection in the usual fashion week schedules. Somehow I feel Ford's decision is intuitive to his customers needs, and rather than pander to a faster market and buyers demands, Ford is slowing down, creating collections that he knows will sell. 

But what of fast fashion? Will high street retailers stop and re-think the amount of collections they create? Will there be a disrupter to set the trend? And if more high end designers adopt Fords approach it will make catwalk copying by high street brands a whole lot harder and slower! Imagine that! Perhaps it's just what the industry needs a big shake up to disrupt the flow and prevent stores over producing and looking the same!

And what of small sustainable brands like DCA, trying to carve out a name for them selves in a crowded market.  Does this shift have an impact? I think the more awareness around slowing down and streamlining ranges to improve financial sustainability has to be a good thing, the idea that fewer collections are needed and a more focused approach is refreshing to say the least.

DCA Bee The Change Tee http://www.deborahcampbellatelier.com/

This slow down in mentality may give brands and consumers time to see that overconsumption is leaving the planet impoverished for future generations and we must act now to begin the change.  I hope the growing concern for how fashion is currently produced will be the driving force behind change, because where we are now is destroying our natural resources and polluting our waterways.  

Lets be the change we wish to see and buy better!