Physical fashion shows and events have largely been put on hold for the past few seasons in response to the pandemic. However, this hasn’t slowed the industry down, and designers have worked hard to present their collections in new and creative ways. As we can already see fashion events are taking place both digitally and physically. We present to you the dates of the major fashion events this year. Whether you’re able to make it in person or will be streaming online, you won’t want to miss a thing.
June 11 – 13 — London Fashion Week Men’s
June 21 – 26 — Paris Fashion Week Men’s
July 3 – 7 — Paris Haute Couture
September 9 – 14 — NY Fashion Week SS23
September 16 – 20 — London Fashion Week SS23
September 20 – 26 — Milan Fashion Week SS23
September 26 – October 4 — Paris Fashion Week SS23
October 8 — African Fashion Week London
The Big Four
Together, New York, London, Milan and Paris are considered the Big Four fashion weeks, (though there are fashion weeks all over the world!), and they always take place in that order. Read below to learn some interesting facts and stories that you might not have known about each of the biggest fashion weeks!
New York Fashion Week (NYFW)
Before WWII, Paris had been the epicentre of fashion. The French capital powerfully dictated trends and much of the American fashion industry simply reproduced items originally made by French designers. However, the Nazi occupation of Paris meant that Americans were cut off from Parisian fashion. This presented an opportunity for American designers to make their own mark in the fashion industry.
The first fashion press event, called “Fashion Press Week”, was organised in 1945 by publicist Eleanor Lambert. She wanted to give American designers a chance to showcase their work and dethrone Paris as the fashion capital of the world.
It was a huge success and the fashion scene in America continued to grow over the next few decades. As it did, shows took place in different venues all over the city — ranging from small-scale apartments to industrial buildings — as each designer was responsible for funding and managing their own show.
Fun at first, the press became fed up by the early 1990s as their jobs had become not only draining, but dangerous too. There had been incidents with stuck elevators, electricity outages and in 1991 part of the ceiling collapsed at a Michael Kors show.
As a result, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) made a decision in 1993 to bring the shows into a centralised location— two white tents at Bryant Park. But by 2010, the Bryant Park location could no longer accommodate the ever-growing number of designers and guests, so NYFW was moved to the Lincoln Centre.
NYFW’s time at the venue was short-lived. In 2013 a group called park advocates sued the city’s Parks Department, claiming it had an adverse impact on the park next door. As a result, Fashion Week had to cease operations.
This year, NYFW’s core presentations will take place at Spring Studios at 50 Varick Street, though there are shows all over the city.
London Fashion Week (LFW)
The London Fashion Week was first organised in October 1983 by the British Fashion Council, a non-profit organisation aimed at promoting the British fashion industry. The first location for LFW was a car park — the Commonwealth Institute’s car park in Kensington, to be precise. The fashion week immediately became a big hit and found its place in the Big Four.
The main hub of activity is currently held at Somerset House, 180 The Strand, but shows are held at different locations throughout the city.
The week is a big contributor to London’s economy and in 2017, it directly contributed £32.3 billion to the UK’s GDP— it’s almost as much as the finance industry.
It was the first of the Big fours to use live streaming, which they introduced in 2010. The designers physically presented their collections on the Somerset House catwalk, but it was accessible to everybody worldwide through the web — not just to the select few that were invited. This helped make London Fashion Week 2020 a huge success story – despite the outbreak of Covid.
Putting another first in the history books: LFW became the first major fashion week to be fur-free in September 2018.
This Autumn, keep an eye out for Limited Edition London, which London Fashion Week describes on their website as:
a newly curated selection of London’s top fashion brands creating one-off and exclusive events, activities and fashion which will run alongside the London Fashion Week show schedule… From artistic installations at Browns East, interactive pop-ups at Machine-A to drinks at the NOW gallery and going behind the scenes at Mulberry, [we] aim to unite London in a festival of creativity and innovation.
Last year over 350 events took place — let’s hope for the same and more in 2022!
Paris Fashion Week (PFW)
Fashion shows in Paris date back to a couple of centuries. Far from the ready to wear collections presented in most fashion weeks today, these were Haute Couture collections – garments created as one-off pieces for a specific client.
The garments were initially shown on stiff mannequins making it difficult for clients to see how it would hang on the body in real life. It wasn’t until the 1850s when Charles Frederick Worth — considered to be the father of Haute Couture — first presented his pieces on women in action–and thus, the role of fashion model was born.
The first official Paris Fashion Week took place on 28 November 1973 and was supervised by Eleanor Lambert (who founded New York Fashion Week). This event was the first time that collections of Haute Couture, ready to wear, and menswear were showcased together in Paris.
It is well remembered for the historic “Battle of Versailles,” where 5 of the biggest French houses — including Dior, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent — were pitted against 5 of the biggest American designers.
The American designers collaborated together on one runway show. 10 of the 36 models they cast were Black — an unprecedented number at the time. The models’ animation and energy helped them to outperform other models in the French show and the Americans won the battle.
In 2011, the Huffington Post Game Changer Awards honoured the black models of Versailles with the Style Award. The models included:
- Pat Cleveland, Bethann Hardison, Billie Blair, Jennifer Brice, Alva Chinn, Norma Jean Darden, Charlene Dash, Barbara Jackson, Ramona Saunders, and Amina Warsuma.
Milan Fashion Week (MFW)
The city of Milan is home to many of the world’s popular fashion houses including Armani, Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, and more.
Milan Fashion Week was established in 1958 and it is organised by The National Chamber for Italian Fashion, a non-profit organisation that aims to promote Italian fashion locally and worldwide. It was the second fashion week to be established of the Big Four.
Milan fashion week includes more than 40 shows each season and it is renowned for its use of stunning venues and production of shows that leave a distinct impression on the audience.
Recently, Milan Fashion Week has relocated to three main venues in the city — Spazio Cavallerizze; Palazzo Reale’s Sala delle Cariatidi and the Padiglione Visconti.
Though most of the shows are organised by The National Chamber for Italian Fashion, there are some fashion houses (like Gucci and D&G) that withdrew from the organisation, choosing instead to hold their shows independently.
African Fashion Week (AFLW)
Though the 4 Fashion Weeks above are considered to be the Big 4, we couldn’t miss African Fashion Week.
Founded in 2011 by Ronke Ademiluy, Africa Fashion Week (AFWL) is Europe’s largest fashion event that promotes and nurtures African and African-inspired design talent.
In addition to creating an international audience for African and African inspired designers, AFWL supports designers in building a sustainable business that is globally recognised and promotes social change in Africa.
They have showcased over 800 emerging designers from Africa, Europe and America. We expect to see AFWL continue to grow from strength to strength.
