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New York – The Federation Francaise de la Couture du Pret-a-Porter des Couturiers et
des Creatures de Mode, France’s governing fashion organization, has
announced that they will not be adapting to the see now, buy now schedule
that the CFDA has proposed for New York Fashion Week, and brands like
Burberry have adopted for their runway shows in London.
Ralph Toledano, president of the Federation told WWD “our clientele is
educated and informed on how the system works.” After the CFDA announced
that they were exploring the possibility of shifting the New York Fashion
Week calendar to a consumer focused schedule, the Federation comprised a
task force which included Dior’s Sidney Toledano, Chanel’s president of
fashion Bruno Pavlovsky, Saint Laurent chief executive officer and
Francesca Bellettini, and an executive vice president at Hermes to review
the proposed alternative format to the Fashion Week schedules.
The board of the federation, which represents all the aforementioned
brands, including other luxury labels such as Nina Ricci, Balenciaga,
Lanvin, Maison Margiela, Paul Smith, and Kenzo, all voted unanimously
against the decision to change the Paris Fashion Week calendar to a
consumer focused schedule.
Ralph Toledano said that customers are used to waiting for collections to
hit stores, and it also increases their desire for the product. In
addition, he also stated that changing the schedule would be difficult
given the level of craftsmanship that goes into French fashion, and it
would be impossible for designers to sit on collections for four weeks
before they were unveiled to the public. He believes it would also be
impossible to avoid leaked imagery.
“We have a common position on this issue. What is Paris? Paris is
undisputedly the fashion capital of creation,” Toledano said to WWD. “As
far as we are concerned, the present system is still valid.”
Toledano is a staunch advocate for the status quo, which makes perfect
sense. France’s luxury goods sector is thriving, so why mess up a perfectly
good thing.
In a statement, Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri
Pinault, said he was against the idea of showing collections six months
after they are designed. “In luxury, I think that is a mistake. The notion
of ‘see-now, wear-now, or sell-now,’ for example, is a negation of
dreaming, of desire. The catwalk show is an integral part of the creative
process. You don’t cut the creative process in two in a luxury brand,” he
said.
Toledano hasn’t addressed how they will handle brands like Vetements, who
have announced they intend to show in-season collections going forward. The
Federation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.