Your Ultimate Guide to Understanding Fashion Week
"Another Fashion Week? Wasn't it just last week? How many times a year does it take place?” If you have asked yourself at least one of these questions and still don’t know exactly how fashion week works, you are in the right place. Just sit tight because I'm about to answer these questions for you!
Fashion week, with all its runway shows, photographers, stylists, and celebrities, is a time where the fashion world is in an abundant blooming. It sets the scene for guests to travel around the city in their best outfits bouncing from location to location; some would describe it as a hectic race against the clock with more than a dozen shows a day. So...
What exactly is “Fashion Week”?
Fashion Week is an entire week, sometimes ten days, dedicated to fashion. That is, it is a time for fashion designers, fashion labels and big luxury fashion houses to present their latest collections and receive praise for their hard work.
Fashion Week takes place over a month called “Fashion Month” in four major cities called the “Big Four”: New York, Milan, London, and Paris; respectively. Keep in mind that other cities such as Berlin, Copenhagen or even Tbilisi also hold their own fashion weeks that are usually characterized by lesser shows and last only two to three days.
Anna Wintour at Paris Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019. Image Credits: Myleskalus
How many times does it take place?
First, in order to address this question, I should clarify that there are three kinds of Fashion weeks: Haute Couture (which stands for high-end handmade tailored dressmaking) - Prét-à-Porter (Ready-to-Wear) and Menswear.
I should point out that Paris is the only city that hosts an Haute Couture Fashion Week. Fun fact, the term haute couture is trademarked and a legally controlled term in France, which can only be delivered by the Ministry of Industry in France following strict rules and guidelines set by La Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture de Paris.
The second type is Ready-to-Wear which refers to the collections that can be found in boutiques or department stores usually four to six months after the show. In other words, these are items of clothing that are made in sweatshops and intended for mass production and consumption.
The third kind of fashion week is Menswear, which has been around since 2012. Its name basically explains the entire concept; it is the fashion week dedicated to menswear.
Now that we know how many kinds of fashion weeks there are; let’s talk about their frequency:
In fashion terms, a year is divided into two seasons: Spring-Sumer and Fall-Winter.
- Haute Couture Week takes place twice per year: Once in January for the following Spring-Summer season, and a second time in June or July for the following Fall-Winter season.
- When it comes to Ready-to-Wear it is a bit different. That is, Ready-to-Wear Week takes place in March for the Fall-Winter season that follows and in September for the Spring-Summer season of the following year.
- For Menswear Week, Fall-Winter collections are presented in January and Spring-Summer collections are presented in June.
Keep in mind that the latest city in the Fashion Week calendar is always Paris, which is arguably by far the most extravagant and grand with an enviable repertoire of designers and fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Mugler, and Chanel. However, given the current global COVID-19 pandemic; both French and Italian fashion's governing bodies have recently canceled the upcoming Men's and Haute Couture shows originally scheduled for June and July. Meanwhile, they have been reportedly postponed to take place alongside Womenswear in September. In the meantime, many are speculating around the beginning of a new era: the digitalization of Fashion Weeks.
