FASHION | Haute Couture Fashion Week Has Been Cancelled In Light Of The Covid-19 Pandemic

BUCHAREST | ROMANIA – Those hoping for a return to fashion normalcy later this year will have to wait a little longer. French fashion’s governing body, the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, has officially cancelled the upcoming men’s and couture fashion weeks.

The spring/summer 2021 men’s shows were originally scheduled for June 23 to 28, couture would have taken place several days later from July 5 to July 9.

The Camera Nazionale della Moda, which oversees Italian fashion, has also just postponed its slate of men’s shows from June 19 to 23; they will now take place alongside its womenswear week in September. The CFDA is also advising American designers to not show resort 2021 collections in May and June and has postponed its menswear weeks.

In a release sent to the fashion industry, France’s Federation writes, ‘In light of the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic worldwide, strong decisions are required to ensure the safety and health of houses, their employees, and everyone working in our industry’.

While a cancellation of both weeks seems a wise choice amid the spread of the coronavirus – men’s and couture bring thousands of designers, models, editors, stylist, buyers, photographers, and other industry professionals to Paris – hope is not lost for the spring/summer 2021 men’s and autumn/winter ‘20/’21 couture collections. ‘The Federation is actively working with its members on possible alternatives’, the release concludes.

The Camera Nazionale della Moda also promised new ways of exhibiting fashion. ‘We are working on new digital formats and new ways of encounter, in order to create a new storytelling on the days originally scheduled for the Milan Men’s Fashion Week: B2C and B2C platforms for the benefit of brands, luxury companies, and all the other players in the fashion industry’, reads a release from the group.

Some of those alternatives could be digital fashion shows or virtual showrooms. The Camera Nationale della Moda acknowledges that for many of its menswear designers, production has already started – or in some cases completed – for the spring/summer 2021 shows, promising that its 800 showrooms will help support sales during Milan’s market week at the end of June.

Pitti Uomo has promised a similar virtual showroom to accompany  its warly June fair. As yet, Florence’s Pitti Uomo and London’s Men’s Fashion Week, both of which are salted for the beginning of June, are still scheduled to take place. Still, the cancellation of menswear’s biggest weeks and the couture shows will cast a pall over the fashion industry, which is just one of many that has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

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