New York Fashion Week is conceivably one of the largest celebrations taking place to debut the world of fashion and its newly-released collections. However, Alexander Wang recently announced that this celebration is no longer to take place for his brand.
At his #Wangfest party in Bushwick, Wang publicized that his collections will begin a new release schedule, moving from the old-time February and September schedule to a new June and December cycle, combining both pre-collections and collections together.
But what does this mean for the fashion industry? The brand announced that this change will be spreading products into monthly deliveries, so buyers have less wait times. This new move is “widely considered to be a transformative solution for the global industry, breaking out of the conventional fashion calendar.”
This shift in collection release months is beginning to transform the fashion industry already, aiding to the quick, industrial availability many buyers desire. The change shortens the time between product reveal and delivery from an original six-month wait to a four-month wait — nearly one-third of the original wait time.
This new paradigm is beginning to create a rift in the popularity of New York Fashion Week, as it may not have the same influence it has had in the last decades. Wang is only one of many that have begun to take steps in leaving NYFW. Additionally, brands like Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, Rag & Bone and Rodarte took action, as well. This practice is becoming more commonplace, lessening the overarching influence of NYFW little by little.
Fashion may start becoming more widely available at quicker rates, creating an even more industrialized version of the current industry. However, what are the costs of creating a much more fast-paced industry? Will fashion as we know it lose its artistic value in the name of free-market?
