Fashion shows during Covid-19

Each year every big luxury fashion house organises big fashion shows to show their annual Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter, Resort, and Prêt-à-Porter (ready to wear) collections. These shows are normally, and physically held during the fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Due to Covid-19, these big brands had to organise their annual shows in a very different way. They had to adapt to all the different circumstances that come along with all the Covid-19 measures depending on the country of origin of the brand. Normally most shows are attended by a lot of big celebrities, influencers, brand ambassadors, and other important people in the fashion world who come from all around the world. They are seated in rows to watch the show, and it is an enormous honour that you may attend such an exclusive event, especially the shows in Paris, hometown of some of the oldest brands like Chanel or Dior, are a very big thing if you are invited to watch them. But Covid-19 resulted in a lot of changes for the operation of these shows. It is not really possible to allow celebrities etc. from all over the world to attend the shows because of all the measures, and most importantly it is not responsible to do so since everyone else is in home-quarantine.  

All of this has resulted in the houses having to adapt to all these limitations, making them more dependent upon using technology, and especially the internet with all its possibilities. Most brands send invites to those who normally attend their shows, to exclusively watch the shows online, before the rest of the world can see all the amazing pieces. Louis Vuitton did it this way, and after the show was held, they published it on their YouTube channel for others to also watch it. The brands come up with all different kinds of methods to still be able to show their clothing of that upcoming season. 

For example, Dior has filmed its haute-couture SS2021 show in a YouTube video format. They have made a video in which they present their haute couture pieces in a story linked to tarot cards (Monsieur Dior was a very big fan of tarot readings) with all different characters from like a jester, death, Luna (the moon), time etc. who each wore a look linked to their personage. Even though it is a video, you can still see all the details of the beautifully hand-crafted pieces, you can really see all the time and effort that went into the production of them. Placing it in this story-frame makes it so much fun to watch and compliments the clothing even more. It is very smart of Maria Grazia Chiuri that she has done it this way, because this way the clothes speak for themselves, and people who were not invited to watch the show can still see it letting their breath get taken away by all the craftsmanship, and the story itself. 

Chanel on the other hand did it differently for their SS2021 show this year. They invited a few brand ambassadors, real Frenchwomen like Vanessa Paradise, and her daughter Lily-Rose Depp, but also Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaca, Caroline de Maigret etc. All of them are ambassadors for the house, and some have been for years. They were invited exclusively to watch the show, with all the measures in hand, and then Chanel made a video in which Caroline asked the rest about what they thought of the show. The brand also published the show on their channel so I would really recommend watching it. It is worth your time (the same with the SS2021 Dior show).

All of all, Covid-19 has asked a lot of big (luxury) fashion houses to adapt to the circumstances we now all live in. It is hard, but they still manage to show their exquisitely crafted pieces to the world via the internet, which also makes it easier to access an even broader audience. They still use models to wear the clothes, because this way one can see the way things look on, which is important to get the whole idea of the look, but they really made sure that everyone is healthy which is extremely important these days. Personally, I love watching their shows, and letting my breath get taken away by these stunning looks, and I think I am not the only one. Watching these videos is very soothing, and every time I get blown away by all the work, detail, and ideas that went into the creation of such pieces. For me Covid-19 has opened a few new doors in which it is easier for the “public” who really enjoy fashion to kind of attend such exclusive shows and feel like you are part of it. I hope that the brands will continue to publish a lot of videos on their channels, making it easier for us to access them, and enjoy a lovely video. In this article I have mentioned a few shows that are really worth watching, but there are many more like the Fendi show etc. If you are going to watch them, I really recommend making yourself comfortable, and enjoy! 

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