With shows often being presented nearly half a year before the clothing hits stores, fashion brands Burberry and Tom Ford are disrupting the fashion week calendar by switching to direct-to-consumer collections. WWD first shared the news of Burberry’s calendar shakeup early this morning. The two brands are known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing. Last year, Burberry created a Snapchat campaign which was captured live on the social media platform. Tom Ford also unveiled his spring 2016 collection in a Nick Knight directed video with Lady Gaga instead of a traditional runway showing.
Burberry will skip its usual London Fashion Week presentation in February to unveil womenswear and menswear together with a seasonless collection this September. Ultimately, Burberry plans to show two collections a year. About the change, Burberry chief creative and chief executive officer Christopher Bailey says, “We’re a global company. When we stream that show, we’re not just streaming it to people who live in spring-summer climates; we’re doing it for all different climates. So I guess we’re trying to look both creatively and pragmatically at this.”
Tom Ford also unveiled the news that he would move his fall 2016 presentation to September rather than February 18th as originally planned. “In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to consumers is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense,” Ford said in a statement to WWD. “We have been living with a fashion calendar and system that is from another era.”
