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Exploring the Unmissable Highlights of the Top Annual Fashion Events
Sectors & Markets
30 May, 2023
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The fashion industry provides the world with a full calendar of events. From runway shows to trade shows, the fashion world knows how to keep busy. But which events are not to be missed? As with most things in the world, not all fashion events are created equal. Some events just top the hot list year after year. Here is a list of the top annual fashion events to watch out for.
Paris has often claimed to be the epicentre of fashion, a city of haute couture, whirring ateliers and terribly good taste. It is the last of the year of the Big 4 and the longest one lasting 9 days.
The first Paris fashion week was conceived in 1973 by the Fédération Française de la Couture and it was held at the palace of Versailles, while in recent years it has been held in the Carrousel du Louvre. By the 1920s and 1930s, Paris had become a hothouse of renowned names: from Coco Chanel’s understated ease to Elsa Schiaparelli’s surreal experiments to Madeleine Vionnet’s fluid draping.
Currently the most powerful brands of PFW are Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Hermès, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, Dries Van Noten, Rick Owens, Balmain, The Row and many others.
Even though brands began experimenting with fashion show formats and seasonality, Paris remains true to its tradition and the majority of brands show four collections in Paris: in January Men's Fall/Winter, in late February - early March Women's Fall/Winter collection, in June Men's Spring/Summer collection, and at the end of September - beginning of October Women's Spring/Summer collection.
The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode helps to consolidate Paris in its role as world fashion capital, in particular thanks to Paris Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week, which it coordinates.
L'Oréal Paris is an official partner of PARIS FASHION WEEK®. The company promotes the excellence and diversity of the Parisian fashion scene worldwide, and collaborates with the most talented designers, ranging from renowned creators such as Elie Saab, Giambattista Valli, to emerging talents such as Coperni, Koché, Wales Bonner, Ester Manas, Germanier.
By definition, Haute Couture is the creation of exclusive custom-fit clothing which is meticulously crafted by the industry’s most skilled artisans. Its origins are attributed to Charles Frederick Worth who founded the first true Couture House in 1858. During the Haute Couture week, a select group of designers team up with the finest crafters in Paris to produce one of a kind outfits that are unaffordable and unattainable for most.
Haute Couture Week takes place twice a year (Spring/Summer in January and Fall/Winter in July). Besides Haute Couture gowns, Haute Joaillerie Houses present their collections. This year the event was filled with industry heavy-hitters like Chanel, Dior, Fendi along with exciting names like Schiaparelli and Balenciaga making their mark on this historic mode of fashion.
In 1958 the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italia (National Chamber of Italian Fashion) came into being, with a mission to promote and protect design talent. A northern industrial city with good manufacturing links, it became a natural home for many designers as the popularity of ready-to-wear collections exploded. From 1961, it was also the headquarters of the newly instated Vogue Italia.
The National Chamber for Italian Fashion, co-ordinates and promotes the development of Italian Fashion, as well as manages the calendar of the fashion shows and events. Milan Fashion Week presents around 70 fashion shows and 90 presentations of designers to an international audience. MFW occurs four times a year: in January for Men's Fall/Winter, in February for Women's Fall/Winter, in June for Men's Spring/Summer, and in September for Women's Spring/Summer.
These days as well they have the best of glamorous italian design putting their best foot forward during Fashion week. Some of the main designers that have been displaying their creative craftsmanship are Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Missoni, Etro, Dolce & Gabbana, and many more.
The British Fashion Council (BFC) for the London Development Agency founded London Fashion Week. The first one took place in 1984. A hub of creativity and style innovation since the 1960s thanks to models like Twiggy and designers such as Mary Quant, Barbara Hulanicki and Ossie Clark, the early London shows grew out of this spirit of freedom. London Fashion Week is still seen as the boldest and most unrestrained of the four major fashion weeks. London Fashion Week has given designers such as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney their debuts.
The big names in fashion and the city are Burberry, Erdem, JW Anderson,Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, David Koma, Mulberry,Victoria Beckham, Vinti Andrews, Vivienne Westwood, and many others.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA) is a not-for-profit trade association founded in 1962, whose membership consists of 448 of America’s foremost womenswear, menswear, jewelry and accessory designers.New York, as one of the big four
fashion capitals along with London, Milan, and Paris, kicks off the fashion marathon, but NYFW only happens twice a year, in February and September. Menswear now has its own Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week Men's, which debuted in 2015.
Annually, NYFW is attended by more than 230.000 visitors with more than 300 shows. A study reveals that New York Fashion Week generates over 900 million dollars for the City’s economy yearly.
The most powerful brands at the NYFW are Brandon Maxwell, Carolina Herrera, Coach, Diane Von Furstenberg, Gabriela Hearst, Jason Wu Collection, KHAITE, LaQuan Smith, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren, Simkhai, Thom Browne, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Vera Wang and many others.
There is only one scheduled event that consistently draws in the whole fashion industry The Pitti Immagine Uomo that takes place every year in Fortezza da Basso, Florence has become the beating pulse of fashion in the city in the past 50 years. Giovanni Battista Giorgini, the founder, an aristocratic Italian from a distinguished Lucca family, had a key role in the growth of the Italian alta moda sector. In 1951, Giovanni invited important American buyers and influencers to attend what he called the inaugural of the High Italian Fashion Show.
During this trade show Pitti showcases over 1,000 different brands. At the women’s fashion version, Pitti W, they showcase over seventy women’s brands. This event held in Italy’s original fashion capital Florence, has over 30,000 visitors each year.
As the holy grail for mens fashion, Pitti is the gathering spot for the most stylish men in the world. Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Off-White, Craig Green, Telfar, Undercover and Sterling Ruby’s S.R. Studio. LA. CA. are among the 21st century menswear fashion houses that have marked key chapters in their development at Pitti. Despite its historic Italian ties, the fair plays host to many international brands such as End Clothing, Saks fifth, Browns, Nordstrom, and kith.
Barcelona Bridal Week is the professional trade show for bridal fashion, wedding gowns, grooming, celebration, communion and ceremonies and takes place once a year during the month of April. A professional international trade show that has debuted the latest in wedding fashion trends and designs since 1991.
The fashion show with the business capacity of the exhibition area, is the only occasion that brings the entire bridal ecosystem at the same time and place. The event includes 30 fashion shows, an annual night gala with a show of a guest designer and an exhibition for commercially buying and selling bridalwear in the space.
The Bridal Week hosts for 4 days in April with 34 international and national bridal designers. Some of the big names who brought groundbreaking and sartorial haute couture to the runway were Rosa Clara, Pronovias, Demetrios, Nicole Milano, Rembo Styling.
New York, by the way, has its own Bridal Fashion Week, which takes place in April.
Hosted and organized by Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2000, Seoul Fashion Week is a bi-annual series of global fashion business events, held in March and October. Seoul Fashion Week is hosted in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and is strategically aiming to become one of the most prominent fashion weeks of the world, following New York, Paris, London, and Milan Fashion Weeks.
The labels and designers to take the centre stage are Won Jeon of Painters, Big Park and Hancha Studio, Shin Hye Young’s work, as well as prominent designers like LIE and Seokwoon Yoon and social conscious designers that took the runway were Im Seon Oc’s Parts Parts and Lee Seong Dong’s ul:kin.
The Japan Fashion Week Organization (JFW) was established in 2005 with the cooperation of the textile/fashion manufacturers, fashion designers and distributors, for the purpose of strengthening and developing the international competitiveness of Japan’s textile and fashion industries.
The fashion week held in Tokyo and hosted by JFW is the Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO
and is held twice a year in March and August. Out of the world’s fashion weeks, Tokyo is regarded as having the most potential for disseminating information due to their history and the amount of buzz surrounding them and, arguably, takes the 5th spot in fashion, holding the position with Seoul, after the big 4 fashion shows. The designers included Seveskig, Shinya Kozuka, Kidill, Yujiro Komatsu and Masatomo Agari.
The main local designers in the spotlight are Tahe Ashida, Hare, Hike, Rainmaker, Tomo Koizuni, Dressed undressed, Base Mark and among others.
Shanghai Fashion Week is a fashion event held two times every year in Shanghai, each time lasting for seven days which is a part of Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival which usually lasts for a month. Supported by the Ministry of Commerce, it is a business and cultural event hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government. Shanghai Fashion Week is still considered secondary to the main circuit, but it has grown considerably since its 2003 debut, nearly doubling in size in the past five years.
Shanghai Fashion Week hosts around 80 physical shows and 12 trade shows. Established labels such as Comme Moi, 8on8, Xu Zhi, and Shushu/tong secured local fashionistas’ attention as always while new names like M Essential Noir, Ao Yes, MTG, and Yehua Fan made their runway debut.
SHFW continued its partnership with Douyin to elevate its digital initiatives, inviting brands and designers to post vlogs and photos to engage online audiences. Meanwhile, Labelhood, a Shanghai-based platform supporting Chinese emerging fashion talents, launched its pioneering fashion and arts festival with the theme of “Oriental Youth.”
Some Chinese designers, including Didu, Rui, Ruohan, and Caroline Hu, chose to show in Paris, while Shuting Qiu presented in Milan and Susan Fang and Pronounce presented during London Fashion Week.
The CFDA Fashion Awards, also known as the Fashion industry Oscars, this annual event recognizes individuals in the American Fashion Industry with awards for design excellence and extraordinary accomplishments in journalism and creative vision. It takes place in another fashion hub, New York City and is a non-profit organization first launched by celebrated publicist Eleanor Lambert.
There is also a lifetime achievement given each year. But the highlight of this award show is of course the red carpet. Stars and industry people dress to impress in the best of high fashion. It is not only an event; it is a star studded runway show. The 2022 star studded affair in partnership with Amazon Fashion, will also commemorate the 60th anniversary of the CFDA.
The night represents the quickly evolving state of modern American fashion. The first recipient of the newly established Innovation Award, given by Amazon Fashion, was Skims, the shapewear and loungewear business established by Kim Kardashian. The Environmental Sustainability Award was given to the United Nations, and Lenny Kravitz received the Fashion Icon Award for 2022.
The Green Carpet Fashion Awards is an innovative event that was created to promote and reward fashion houses and emerging designers who are committed to making their products sustainable and ethical. The Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) was born in January 2010, when Livia Firth stepped onto the Golden Globes red carpet wearing a repurposed wedding gown. Since then, designers and celebrities worldwide have brought the best of sustainable style into the spotlight, changing the conversation around the fashion industry forever.
Since The Green Carpet Challenge launching at the Golden Globes in 2010 we have involved some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong’o, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Emma Watson, Thandie Newton, Olivia Coleman, Zendaya and many more.
Since 2017, the National Chamber of Italian Fashion and Eco-Age, a sustainability consultancy agency founded by Livia Firth, annually confer an award to stylists, entrepreneurs and artisans who have encouraged sustainability in the fashion sector.
In 2022, after four successful years in Italy with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Eco-Age has brought the GCFA back “home” to where it all started in the USA. The significance and reach of the LA community will power the sustainable narrative across the world, demonstrating the commitment that this community has on making the world a better place.
The Fashion Awards is a fundraiser for the BFC Foundation and focuses on celebrating excellence in the fashion industry and supporting the future pipeline of creative talent. Designer of the year, Model of the year, Leaders of change, and, beginning in 2022, a Metaverse & Gaming experience award, which was given to Burberry for the Burberry x Blankos Block Party and Burberry x Minecraft experiences in 2022, are among the nominations.
Affectionately referred to as “fashion’s biggest night” is the Met Gala. Also known as the “Met Ball”, it is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City.The first edition of the Met Gala took place in 1948 and was aimed at raising funds for the new Costume Institute. Nowadays, all exhibitions serve to place fashion within the context of contemporary culture.
The Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode (National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) is a nonprofit association created in 1901 in France. The ANDAM organises an annual contest intended to recognize and introduce designers on to the French and international fashion scene. The famous ANDAM Fashion Award was created 24 years ago by Nathalie Dufour, and judges on the panel includes the fashion leaders such as CEO and chairman of Kering Group, Francois Henri- Pinault and president and CEO of Chloe, Ricardo Belini among others.