Making Fashion Week Cost-Effective

The economic downturn has forced cost-consciousness into the way high fashion is being presented. The Economist reports that during last week’s NY Fashion Week, several designers slashed the $100,000+ cost it takes to do a 20-minute catwalk show out of their budgets, opting instead for more straightforward things like having their models interact with crowds in small gatherings. This forced creativity has also led to new digital-based innovation as more members of the global haute couture community ditched fashion shows altogether in favor of launching music videos and internet-based campaigns. What’s interesting is that some of these changes might become a permanent part of fashion marketing:

Some wonder whether the industry’s calendar of seasonal shows in several different cities round the world may itself go out of fashion. One firm, Halston, recently released its autumn collection through a music video. Others are also likely to pursue digital means to reach a broader audience. Catherine Malandrino, a popular French designer, has spent the past three months reworking her website to make it more “human and interactive”. Fashion, she points out, was historically sold through intimate salons. She wants to re-establish that accessibility—and the internet allows her, and others, to do it cheaply.

[via The Economist]