What are the similarities between Irina Shayk, Ashley Graham and Hailey Bieber? Besides that they’re all drop-dead gorgeous, they were all part of the first virtual fashion show in history. Read everything you need to know below.
COVID-19 and the fashion industry
The worldwide pandemic has hit the fashion industry hard. However, there are much needed changes taking place. As one of the first, the British Fashion Council announced a digital gender-neutral platform that would replace its fashion weeks. After London Fashion Week, many others followed. For some designers, tough, the lockdown has a silver lining. And despite the fact that we miss the old way of living and the buzz around the average Fashion Week, there’s a new – very welcome – phenomenon: the virtual fashion show.
Virtual fashion show
Formed Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld is one of the pioneers concerning Fashion Unites – the first ever digital runway show. We saw Natasha Poly, Kim Kardashian, Karlie Kloss, Diane Von Fürstenberg, Winnie Harlow, Irina Shayk, Ashley Graham and Halily Bieber amongst many others. Their main message? To bring some joy in times like these and to give the right example of staying home.
As the New York Times wrote, this show wasn’t about the clothes as much as a “regular” show would have been: “it was the fashion equivalent of the celeb-packed music specials that have proliferated over the last few weeks“.
Amongst other brands, Balmain, Valentino, Off-White and Louis Vuitton were there to encourage people to stay strong from home. Celebrities and fashion models showed off the latest collections from their homes, while giving hymns to all front-line workers.
Overall it resulted in a celebrity-packed show, in which most of all the rich and famous were central. We can’t deny that a model’s personality and social media following gets more and more important nowadays, but we hope the next digital fashion show will be a bit more about the clothes. Despite this, it was a great start of a new normal.
Watch and enjoy the entire show below.
Watch every look from CR Runway with amFAR against COVID-19 here.
Also read: What’s next? The impact of COVID-19 crisis on the luxury market
