What You Need To Know About The New Fashion Week

The Schedule

This London Fashion Week will now feature significantly more designers showing online. And while some big names are sticking to the old format with physical presentations – notably Molly Goddard and Victoria Beckham – the majority will show online ‘films’, including Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Christopher Kane and JW Anderson. To work out what you want to watch, access the full schedule here. 

The Shows

Due to social distancing, don’t expect to see the same volume of models walk the runway as usual. Thankfully, Burberry has announced it will still present a socially-distanced catwalk show. Set in the British outdoors, the Spring/Summer 2021 collection will be live streamed on the 17th September, so anyone can experience it digitally.

The Extras

As well as shows and presentations,​ LondonFashionWeek.co.uk is filled with exciting content from some of the biggest designers and more. Head to the ‘Stories’ tab for video diaries from the likes of Rixo and Roksanda, and watch exclusive interviews with some of the industry’s biggest heavyweights there, too.

The Access

Information and access is available via the official London Fashion Week website – this is where the major shows will be livestreamed and available to watch for free, although exact timings are yet to be confirmed. 

The Other Fashion Weeks

Of course the same goes for other fashion weeks. New York Fashion Week, which begins this Sunday (13th September), is also supporting both online and physical events, with access to shows, designer archives and exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peeks all on NYFW.com. Paris has been a little slower to adapt, instead presenting a Covid-friendly version of the physical schedule, albeit supported by a digital platform. Meanwhille, president of CNMI, the Milanese equivalent of the BFC, Carolo Capasa said of the part-digital, part-physical Milan Fashion Week: “[Digital fashion week] is designed to support, rather than replace, the physical fashion calendar, which will resume in September and will remain vital in promoting Made in Italy and the value of its manufacturing prowess.”

The Upshot

Livestreams of shows have become more common in recent years, but the forced digitisation of the fashion month means the season has now been democratised like never before. Members of the public have the same access as industry titans – plus, access to every show, regardless of geography. It also means you can now be as engaged with your favourite designers in Paris and Milan, as you are in London. And while there are no guarantees about the future, at least for now there’s a little more access for everyone.