Making Fashion Relevant Again

Text by Saumya Sinha

The future of fashion lies in its ‘nowness’…

Earlier this year, British fashion house Burberry broke all rules by announcing ‘seasonless’ collections titled February and September, merging menswear with womenswear and making the clothes available immediately after the show. As opposed to the seemingly ancient six-month gap between the preview and production, the new model was aimed at making fashion shows relevant again.

This endeavour of shaking things up and redesigning the archaic systems of fashion resonated with both buyers and consumers. Months later, on September 9^th, Tommy Hilfiger joined the league and went one step ahead by introducing #TommyNow – a live, shoppable show wherein the collection began to be retailed through e-commerce, retail, wholesale and social commerce channels the moment it hit runway. This allowed people at the show and those watching remotely to immediately shop every look on tommy.com. ‘#TommyNow is the ultimate expression of my brand philosophy, and the show I have always wanted to present. We are a brand that breaks conventions, puts the consumer at the heart of our business, and believes in creating fun, inspiring experiences that fuse fashion and entertainment,’ said Tommy Hilfiger about the new format. In the world of ‘watch it, buy it, wear it, tweet it’ immediacy supersedes all other demands, and finally brands are ready to meet the need of the hour. Legendary designer Vivienne Westwood is said to be joining the trend by offering a capsule line from her current unisex collection while Moschino has been experimenting with the module for multiple seasons now.

On the other side of the globe, many Indian designers have rejected the new idea, resorting to old methods as they believe it helps them gauge their consumers’ demands and customise the collection better. But going by the fact that many young designers are choosing Instagram over physical runways — which is both cost effective and user friendly besides being a modern tool of communication — we won’t be surprised if a revolution is underway.