The Fashion World is a very broad society where fashion designers, models, consumers, fashion bloggers, etc. come together to create a community of art based on clothing. One way the fashion community accomplishes this is through events like Fashion Week. This concept correlates with “Haute Couture” and “Runway Fashion” to form the idea of Fashion Week. While Fashion Week itself can be a complicated and extensive idea, once exposed to it, it can easily be associated with how it becomes the foundation of fashion.
Firstly, what is Haute Couture? Essentially, Haute Couture is high-end fashion in which clothing (made with expensive and quality materials) is custom created for a particular client. The significance of Haute Couture lies in the clothing the designers create, which have individuality and character, since it is almost always specially built for a client. To get a ring out of the concept, a few of the many designers are Donatella Versace, the founder of the high-end brand ‘Versace’ and Coco Chanel, the founder of another high-end brand “Chanel”. In relation to Haute Couture designers, they would not be able to exhibit their pieces without a canvas. This brings us to runway fashion! The runway, in short terms, is where designers are able to showcase their extravagant work, basically an art gallery for clothing pieces.
These two important concepts correlate to bring us to our main focus, which is Fashion Week! Fashion Week is a one-week event that occurs twice within a year. During this event, designers are able to display their current collection for consumers, in which after the shows there are usually fittings or after-parties that occur. To enter Fashion Week is a very strict process, where the physical shows themselves are not open to the public. In order to attend a show, an individual needs to be invited. Designers and PRs will observe your profession, your influence in the fashion community, etc. before they give you an official invite to the show(s). Fashion Week occurs in the “Big 4” fashion capitals: New York, London, Milan, and Paris.
While the whole idea of Fashion Week is out-of-reach for ordinary people, like myself, it still contributes a lot to the whole culture of fashion. Haute Couture enables designers to step out of their comfort zone to create pieces with their own signature style, which is one of the goals we have in the fashion community, to be able to have individuality and come together with that. Runway fashion and Fashion Week then helps consumers to identify trends and clothing that are most fitting for themselves. But it does not only help us identify our style, but it helps us become more comfortable and confident in our skins. Before, runway fashion was not as diverse as it is now. It lacked a lot of representation and variation in terms of skin color, bodies, etc. But today, runway fashion is slowly becoming more diverse and representation is increasing which is super important in our society to help people of all ages and genders to feel further comfort in their own skin.
As our world changes, so do the fashion world especially with the shift to a pandemic setting. At the beginning of this pandemic, the fashion world had struggled greatly, from Fashion Week becoming canceled, businesses shutting down, and employees losing their professions. Although the fashion world had many declines and are still finding their way to recover, it had to quickly adapt to the new conditions of the world, in which the fashion community did very well. During Fashion Week 2020, while some have decided not to move forward with their shows, some fashion brands moved their shows virtually, like Louis Vuitton, where more audiences were catered. Recently, as we’re converting to the new lifestyle of the pandemic, physical Fashion Shows are finally up and running again!
In conclusion, the foundation of the fashion world depends on how the extravagant side of the community operates. Without these, we wouldn’t be able to have seasonal trends, outfits inspirations, and an organized culture of fashion!
