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Death By Over-Scheduling
By admins | March 9, 2010
(Part One)
A while back we mentioned that skinny jeans were hazardous to your health, well now, we’d say the fashion calendar is a hazard to our industry. In our business the fashion calendar and the time from development to market, has gotten so tight that it is strangling our creativity and killing our profits. The old system of fashion collections being shown on the runway six months before they hit the store, or featured in fashion magazines months before the consumer could purchase them, or even merchandise on the floor a season before the customer could feasibly wear it, is all part of an outdated and broken system. While the last issue is no longer a major obstacle, as thankfully we are not forced to buy wool coats in July anymore (especially thanks to online shopping), the other two issues, especially fashion week, are major problems.
There was a recent article in the WSJ addressing the issue of getting clothes from catwalk to closet, faster. The six month delay allows fast fashion chains like Forever 21 and H&M time to knock off designers and have the more affordable imitations available in stores even before the originals. To combat this issue some designers have begun putting their collections into production before they walk the runway and made them available for sale immediately following their shows. Designers Norma Kamali, Cynthia Rowley, and Burberry have recently tried this tactic with extremely lucrative results. The WSJ also mentions that part of the problem is the designer’s collections are featured in Vogue or Elle and the customer sees them, but by the time they are available in stores they no longer appear fresh and new to the shopper. We would also like to add that the role of fashion blogs have tightened the calendar even more, as the shopper does not have to wait a month for Vogue but can go online immediately and view the pieces within 24 hours of the show.
For most designers and brands, fashion week do not equal sales, as very few actually show during the week. And for those that do show, much of the actual selling and ordering takes place in the showroom. While fashion week gets the media attention and is a PR darling for the high-end designers, many of us know that far more of the world’s apparel gets sold during market week not fashion week and sales often get done in private showings not on the runway. However, to the shopper and of course to fashion’s marketing, PR, media, bloggers, and celebs, fashion week is the Holy Grail. But many of us realize the current model is no longer effective for either end of the industry.
It seems to us a decision needs to be made as to the purpose of fashion week and if that purpose is advertising and immediate retail (not wholesale) sales than put photographers and bloggers in the front row, move the calendar forward to meet the production requirements, schedule fashion week closer to the actual season when goods hit the floor for shoppers to purchase immediately. If the intent is to use fashion week as industry event to generate internal buzz and initiate wholesale buying then it should be kept that way, and moved back to the Garment center. The problem is for many years fashion week worked for both sides of the business, but that is just no longer feasible. Between online shopping, new media, consumers buy now mentality and the increasing production times for oversea manufacturing, fashion week can no longer accommodate both needs effectively.
As you may have noticed, we marked this post as “Part One” that is because the fashion calendar is not just detrimental to fashion week and high-end designers, but also for the rest of the apparel industry. Those of us working for big brands, private label lines, vertical retailers, and everyone from Walmart to Saks are suffering from calendar woes as well. These designers, due to production issues, bureaucracy, and the micro-managing of creativity, are also suffering. They companies require designers to design a year or more ahead of calendar. The product then suffers and often looks dated and unoriginal, while the designers end up like this. So stay tuned for a follow up post from this perspective too.
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Topics: fashion industry, fashion shows | 12 Comments » 
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March 9th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I learn a lot here. I know that’s as generic comment as they come, but it’s absolutely true.
Great insight on this one. I agree that the calendar has been completely shifted around with the maturation of media. I wonder what the next few years will bring to answer for it.
March 9th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
So intersting, looking forward to Part II.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Excellent Post! I’ve wondered the same thing about fashion week. I’m in the apparel business (but not the fashion week kind of label) and don’t get the intent anymore, it seems very bipolar. The CFDA and MB need to have a clear direction and support it.
Can’t wait for part two, it is absurd the schedule the rest of us are on and isn’t helping anybody!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:18 am
This was very interesting to read. I have considered this issue before but never so clearly. That’s why I love this blog!
March 12th, 2010 at 12:19 am
I’m annoyed by the contradictory things that are said about scheduling. First, stores like Saks acknowledge that new seasons hit the floor too early, so fall stuff is out in August and on sale by October when people want it. But now, everyone wants to get things from the runway to stores immediately. So, what, are we going to wind up showing Spring 2011 in February 2011 and have it in the stores for March 21? Do people realize there’s a little thing called manufacturing that needs to be done?
March 12th, 2010 at 1:29 am
You have brought out a very valid point. I just received this month’s vogue and got a trend report for spring summer with it! believe me, it all looked so old to me..i was thinking i have seen this so many months back, why are they bringing it now?? It definitely needs to change as we are literally getting news from everywhere at lightening speed. We dont have any patience left to wait for the monthly maagazines to see designers’ collections.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
So so true. A friend and I have often deliberated over this (usually after a bottle of wine or two!). I work as a member of management for a value fashion retailers and am having to constantly explain to customers why we have swimwear in the shop in January whilst we have no little heavy coats left. This is my first time reading your blog but you will now have an avid follower, can’t wait for part 2.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I hope there is something done, and the dates are changed and the shows come back to Bryant Park. And you couldn’t be more correct – fashion week needs to decide what it wants to be.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Donna Karan agrees – http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/03/donna_karan_2.html?mid=fashion-alert–20100315
March 15th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
I agree that the six-month lead time between runway showcase and retail availability is becoming a thing of the past. Fashion week is a press event and with press moving faster (blogs, etc) it’s time for change.
March 16th, 2010 at 3:56 am
This is a real problem… as a consumer we are looking at winter when we are supposed to be buying spring? This helps no one… why can we not have market week when the fashion shows are right now, and show the fashion to everyone when the timing is more appropriate? Magazines and editorials can help by not publishing/having publishing agreements for correct seasons. This just makes more sense in the world today, where if you want something, all you have to do is upload it to your phone and find a place that sells it…
March 17th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Excellent post. What do you think of RL’s “1st ever Fashion Show” with the commentaries & immediate point of sale?
I wonder if they will end up doing this for their runway collection during NYFW?
And I agree with fashionherald – bring it back to the tents! ;-)