Paris Fashion Week kicked off on Monday night, three weeks after the New York, Milan and London fashion weeks. The event will have live shows, but with a fraction of the guests usually present. In London and New York, designers live-streamed their shows, while in Milan, it was a mix of physical and digital events.
The Spring-Summer shows, which will be a mixed bag, will have Dior, Kenzo, Chloé, Balmain, Yohji Yamamoto, Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton stage physical shows. Some other brands are expected to hold digital shows—this will, of course, mean that a chunk of the front row will be missing. Yves Saint Laurent, Celine and Off-White have decided to not take part in fashion week owing to travel restrictions.
The virus seems to have revolutionised how fashion shows and events will be conducted and the most successful might be the ones amplifying their shows digitally—either putting up a pre-filmed video or live-streaming the event. Influencers, gaming and music will continue to lend different aspects to the event.
Physical distancing and hygiene guidelines are expected to be followed. Roselyne Bachelot, the French Minister of Culture kicked off the fashion week, which will last till October 6 with a live-streamed address. Korean label Kimhekim and Situationist by Georgian designer Irakli Rusadze kicked off the show on Monday.
Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Recovery in the meantime said, the French government has no plan to order a new nationwide lockdown to contain a resurgence in coronavirus cases in the country. More than 543,000 people have been infected by the virus and 31,808 people have died.
Though on an average the number of cases has come down, the number of hospitalisations and deaths related to the virus has gone up. Health authorities reported 4,070 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, a sharp decrease from Sunday’s 11,123. The number of people hospitalised due to the virus has crossed the 6,400 threshold for the first time since July 21, a Reuters report reads. Experts fear the situation might worsen.
