Runway Shows During a Pandemic

The world-changing crisis that is the Coronavirus pandemic has caused major industries to largely grind to a halt, including our beloved world of fashion. Boutiques, factories, and warehouses across the world have immediately closed for an indefinite period of time amidst lockdowns and regulations concerning nonessential businesses. And as the crisis appears to reach far into the coming weeks and months, major events we all look forward to have been canceled or postponed left and right.

However, as we look to China, we see a country that has been dealing with this longer than anyone and is eager to keep its industries going in any capacity. Shanghai Fashion Week, which was originally scheduled for February, went ahead in late March, becoming the first major fashion show in the world to be held through purely digital means. This makes the event a litmus test of sorts for the rest of the industry, as it is faced with the prospect of moving staple events from the fashion calendar online.

Shanghai Fashion Week partnered with tech conglomerate Alibaba Group and its business-to-consumer e-commerce branch Tmall to deliver a highly interactive experience for its audience. Live chats were open for all of the shows enabling people to deliver live commentary as the show was going on. Designers also gave interviews explaining their collections. Some shows even gave viewers the ability to buy pieces as they saw them on the runway.

Despite being reorganized so quickly, Shanghai Fashion Week proved to be a major success. Viewership across the week totaled over 11 million and on-the-spot sales grossed over $2.5 million. Designers came away from the event pleased with how smoothly the show ran as well as the reach they were able to gain through the use of a digital platform.

It is worthy to note that subverting the status quo of in-person presentations within the fashion world does not come without precedent. Techwear powerhouse Acronym is noted for their online lookbooks and flashy video presentations of their collections without the need to attend in-person fashion events. And within the past few years, we have seen the coverage of numerous fashion week heavy-hitters turning towards live-streaming. At the last Paris Fashion Week in January, nearly every major brand from Louis Vuitton to Rick Owens live-streamed their runway shows.

As it stands, we are a long way off from being allowed to gather large groups of people in small spaces. Therefore, if labels want to show off their latest collections to a wide audience anytime soon they will have to look beyond traditional means of presentation. Interactive online events such as Shanghai Fashion Week may become the new norm. As distributors and consumers are unable to gather or travel to see the latest wares, the responsibility falls upon the community of labels to use the sole means of worldwide interaction to keep the world of fashion, which we know and love, going.