Fashion Week Blooms Everywhere, But How Long Will They Go To The World?

"Fashion Week is Dying" (Fashion Week is dying) has become a topic of conversation for many fashion professionals. This is not a fallacy without trace. Fashion week is slowly losing its original functions.
Fashion week has always been designed for professional buyers and fashion editor with voice. The fashion week of two seasons a year can be 6 months in advance, so that the editors will know the fashion trend and make the publication content, so that department stores and buyers can make business plans. But nowadays, with the rise of social media such as Instagram, WeChat, micro-blog and jitter, it has become a new function of fashion week to brand and spread influence. Star network red people get together to see the show, the brand is making gimmicks to attract eyeballs, fashion week and fashion show are becoming entertainment and strong, and are turning into vanity fair with vanity.
Good at fashion show, "do things" brand become industry pacesetter, attracting other brands to follow suit. Gucci president and CEO Marco Bizzarri once said that the significance of fashion shows is now a symbol and declaration, which has long lost its original function. The standard of measuring the value of fashion week is no longer a single order, and the value of media influence has gradually become the key to determining the success or failure of a fashion week. At the just concluded 2020 fall and winter four fashion week, Jennifer Lopez once again wore Versace's dress to reappear its elegant demeanour. Hip hop singer Cardi B appeared in fashion week, becoming the highest level of discussion in the whole season.
The change of fashion week's function is closely related to the way people buy fashion. In the short history of the highly developed electricity supplier and the short history of the fashion industry, fashion week has developed into another kind of appearance, giving birth to the fashion industry with Chinese characteristics. When fashion week was declines, China's fashion week was everywhere.
Among them, the more than 200 largest fashion show in the two quarter of the year is Shanghai's fashion week.
In addition to our well-known Shanghai fashion week and China Fashion Week, in recent years, in the public view, there are also fashion week such as Shenzhen, Wuhan, Dalian, Beijing, Chengdu, Changsha, and even China's fur town. Fashion week so many, China's fashion week seems to show a crazy distribution, but also to manufacturers and consumers.
The fashion week in Shanghai, founded in 2002, is one of the top leaders, serving the region as a mission to serve the whole country, and now serving Asia and even the whole world. Obviously, the development process of Shanghai fashion week is much faster than that of other competitors.
In commerce and trade, the Mode clothing and Accessories Fair in Shanghai has been established since 2015, and has displayed more than 1000 brands in over forty countries. This season, the total number of spectators in the 5 days was 12058, with a total number of 27622 times, including 60% of professional buyers and agents. The other six exhibitors have more than 1200 exhibitors in this season. The exhibition area is over 40 thousand square meters, and the total number of visitors is over 60 thousand.
Each exhibitor also relies on the fashion week platform to develop steadily. Take time Showroom as an example, its public number disclosed that its visitors increased by 14% this season to 7593. Among them, the proportion of buyers is still half a year, up to 47%, the total number is 3571, and the continuous optimization of its own exhibition has also led to the commercial transformation rate of the brand.
"In the past 5 years, by establishing the layout of Commerce and trade and firmly implementing the" supply side reform "proposed by the state, we have established the industry's buying mode." Lv Xiaolei, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee, told BoF: "the future goal of Shanghai fashion week is that designers who are truly creative designers can build up their business models and develop them too fast, hoping to slow down and settle down.
Self positioning, the foundation of regional industrial development, state support and talent pool are four fatal factors in China's fashion week.
Shanghai fashion week as an important official organization for Chinese original designers to start and commercialize, has created an important ecological environment for the growth and development of designers. In the past 5 years, it has gradually matured and made clear its self positioning, becoming the largest order season in Asia and the first place in the world. In March 13th this year, the Shanghai fashion week was officially approved by the Trademark Office of the State Administration of market supervision and administration and became the national registered trademark. This has become a major move for Shanghai to attach importance to the protection of intellectual property rights, enhance the designer's creativity and business environment, and is closer to the real Asian Fashion Center.
The success of Shanghai fashion week is inseparable from the city. In China's most international city, Shanghai fashion week attracts many international buyers and brands, but the old fashion industry base behind the city is the key. Shenzhen fashion week is the same.
Shenzhen is one of the earliest garment foundry bases in China. After continuous industrial upgrading, it extends from the "three to one complement" at the end of the industry (i.e. "incoming processing", "incoming assembly", "sample processing" and "compensation trade") to clothing brand, clothing design and clothing sales, forming a perfect industrial chain. In the upgrading process of Shenzhen's fashion industry, China's early well-known commercial brands such as Marisfrolg, Yiner, Jesse, Jessie and Ellassay were born, and also the main brands of Shenzhen fashion week. Speaking of why fashion week is being held, Zhang Hongtao, Secretary General of Shenzhen clothing association, told BoF that this is the demand of the industry as well as the needs of the whole people. Shenzhen has the advantage of its industrial base, which also brings the pressure of "selling" to the independent designer brand. Among the large commercial brands, it is hard to see the "impatience" and "lack of security" of the new brand.
Shenzhen fashion week.
China International Fashion Week, established in 1997, is the earliest fashion week in China. When fashion week was established, Chinese fashion has not yet entered the WTO. Under the background of China made and world factory, China's international fashion week is highly forward-looking with its original brand and design talent. Zhang Qinghui, chairman of the China Fashion Designers Association, once said: "from the perspective of urban development, urban functions are changing from production to consumption based on providing more public services and cultural products. In the superposition of urban functions, fashion plays an important leading role.
As the name comes with "international", internationalization has always been a major strategic direction of China International Fashion week. What has been doing is combining the orientation of personnel training with the domestic professional colleges and universities through the platform, and conveying more talents to China's fashion industry at the same time. But "internationalization" seems more swords for China International Fashion week. The international experience of brand and designer seems to be diversified, but there is still room for further improvement.
Although the internationalization of fashion week is not only based on the participation of internationally renowned brands and designers, but the hard index of internationalization directly affects the attention.
A few days ago, the Swedish Fashion Council announced the abolition of Stockholm fashion week, developing new platforms to support local brands. Stockholm fashion week is usually held in August. It has been suppressed by other fashion week for a long time. The local brand Acne Studios has gone to Paris, while Ganni and Cecilie Bahnsen have gone against Copenhagen. The point of contending between regions is nothing more than brand and people.
Attracting fashion brands to prevent outflow of local talent, Shanghai fashion week itself has better competitiveness. For many years, the diversified and healthy fashion environment has created many new designers. Shanghai fashion week and Labelhood, Xcommons and other designers support platform, Ontimeshow, Tube, Not, Alter, DFO, time hall and other Showroom and exhibition participation, let overseas rich local designers and foreign designers have more choice space. Shanghai fashion week's cooperation with international organizations such as Pitti Uomo, inviting overseas guests, media and buyers, and "Design by Shanghai" to go out are all aimed at exporting talents to the international fashion industry.
With the help of national policies, the fashion week in Shenzhen hopes to build a platform for the fashion center of Tai Wan District to provide financial support and venue services for new designers and brands. China International Fashion Week, which has been built for many years, is also making efforts for "robbing people".
But when it comes to "robbing people", the first break bridge Fashion Week organized by Alibaba is a "dark horse". It is very impressive by the appeal of the platform. In September 12th this year, the fashion show held at the famous bridge in West Lake, Hangzhou, attracted Chinese original designs including Lining, Chen Peng, Particle Fever, At-One-Ment by Wanbing Huang, Banxiaoxue and so on, and British designer Chalayan also came to fame.
As the opening of the fourth Taobao creation Festival, the show took a lot of effort. The Dong Benhong, chief marketing officer of the Taobao Festival, named Chris Tung (flower name: Zhang Wuji) once told BoF: "we hope to make the broken bridge fashion show the fifth largest fashion week in the world. This time we could have invited more famous brands, but because of the conflict between the four fashion week and many times, many brands had to give up. Tomorrow we may move some time and make it more world-class. Although the number of spectators is limited, the scale of online viewing is expected to reach tens of millions. Obviously, Alibaba's ambition is great, hoping to get the right to speak in the global fashion field on the back of its huge ecosystem.
Recently, the global fashion industry index and fashion week activity index report (2018) released by the Xinhua News Agency China economic information society shows that the vitality of Shanghai fashion week has exceeded Tokyo fashion week, ranking fifth only after "four big". But as a western fashion industry, Tokyo has a strong influence on Asian fashion and is still competitive. But the brain drain and the decline in business activity have affected its development.
Supporting local designers is one of the reasons for the brain drain in Tokyo fashion week after the fashion week in Shanghai. For many new brands, Tokyo fashion week is a springboard to Paris. Most brands that win the Tokyo Fashion Awards will join the Paris fashion week. Of course, Rakuten is a sponsor of Tokyo fashion week instead of Amazon. It also indicates that Tokyo fashion week will pay more attention to local fashion and e-commerce.
At the time of holding, the three main Asian fashion cities in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul are still lacking in strength compared with the "four big ones". The three are also competing secretly, because the holding time will directly affect the designer's order quantity. Although there are many cities in China, the fashion week is held in the season of irregular orders. But ordering is still the main purpose for most fashion week.
2020 in spring and summer, the Shanghai fashion week has just finished its official schedule, while the Seoul fashion week was held in from October 14th to 19th. Tokyo fashion week and its collision period were held in from October 14th to 20th. The two are the most popular fashion week in the world. It is difficult for designers to get orders, forcing many brands to move to other cities. The collision period also forces buyers and the media to make trade-offs between them. The exhibition hall, order meeting and fashion show in Shanghai become more attractive.
When fashion week mode was gradually suppressed by the new trading mode, China's fashion week gained more international discourse by feeling the courage of crossing the river. The success of the fashion week in Shanghai is more than a single day. It is much more about the environment built on original designers and the charm of Shanghai. Everyone wants to do the fifth fashion week in the world, but who can get the top prize needs to wait and see.