Designers ditched New York Fashion Week this season like they finally realized February in New York is freaking cold.
Seriously though, with the changes in the fashion landscape taking place (thank you Instagram and all other forms of social media), it seems designers are looking for ways to move with the times. Stay ahead of the game. Pave a path for what’s to come, if you will.
This season, Rebecca Minkoff joined the likes of Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, and Rachel Zoe, and held her runway show in Los Angeles. Taking full advantage of the opportunity to attend a runway show outside in February (dreams do come true!), Katie hot-footed it down to The Grove to support Minkoff and this geniusly innovative show.
Social influencers joined models along The Grove’s trolley tracks, including our pal Coco Rocha, Gotham alum Jamie Chung, Song of Style‘s Aimee Song, The Chriselle Factor‘s Chriselle Lim, and Natalie Off Duty‘s Natalie Suarez. What’s more? The whole thing was instantly shoppable via LikeToKnow.It. Boom. How’s that for groundbreaking?
We’ve said for years that Fashion Week was going to have to change beyond just creating Instagramworthy shows in order to stay relevant. Sure, buyers still need to buy, but is the fashion show really serving that purpose anymore…? If you look around at the audiance and play “spot the people that really need to be here,” the answer is probably not.
Sure, we enjoy traveling to New York and there’s nothing we love more than trendspotting, discovering new designers and creating wishlists for the upcoming seasons, but do we need to be there? Is it integral to our business?
Considering the fact that most shows end up on the internet almost instantaneously (if they weren’t already live-streamed), the answer is a resounding No. So we joined Minkoff and the others who decided not to suffer for the sake of suffering and said, we are out…this season anyway.
Sure, I bet we head back at some point (September, anyone?). The whole shenanigan is a grand ‘ol time. But for now, we are taking in the shows the way we’ve always wanted to – with a front row view from the comfort of our bed, wine glass in hand.
You guys, we don’t even have FOMO.