Virtual fashion shows: how the runway evolved due to Covid

In the past two years, many changes have occurred in the way we experience fashion due the industry to attempting to adapt to the new circumstances caused by Covid-19.

One of the biggest changes has been with runway shows and visual presentation. Virtual fashion can vary from online fashion shows, phydigital fashion and many more aspects.

Virtual fashion shows seemed to be the one aspect of the industry that stayed relevant even after Covid restrictions started to ease. They continue to be a creative, innovative and accessible source of experiencing fashion post-pandemic.

In June 2020, the British Fashion Council chose to go with an online format for men’s fashion week. Even though most major brands, such as Burberry, preferred to showcase their pieces in September, this was a significant move for the fashion world.

Soon after, Hermes showcased their first ever digital show which had motivated the first virtual couture fashion week for Paris Fashion Week.

By the end of the year, most of the biggest fashion houses relied on virtual fashion shows to showcase new collections, which became vital for the industry to stay alive and allowing lovers of fashion to still experience new collections during the dreary times of lockdown. These fashions houses included Prada, Iris Van Herpen, Balmain and many more.

Accessibility has widened via to virtual fashion shows. During Shanghai Fashion Week, a fashion networking and buying platform called Tmall was used to showcase the entire event, gaining an audience of 11 million viewers.

This was convenient as well as accessible for anyone who had an electrical device. It meant you could now live stream fashion shows during lockdown instead of waiting for images of pieces to come out on vogue runway.

Through the use of online live streaming runway shows and virtual shows in general, smaller independent designers and brands get to showcase their work to larger audiences.

Realistically, the traditional way of curating a fashion show can be difficult due to connections as well as finances. With the rise of live streaming, all designers have the access to showcasing their work to the world. Even through social media live streaming, many designers used their Instagram and Facebook accounts to show their work through going live and promoted the show alongside.

Not only did virtual runway help the accessibility of fashion but it also impacted on the future of fashion design.

These shows broke boundaries in terms of creativity and innovation. There were aspects of these shows that wouldn’t be possible with even the best production and art direction in a traditional runway format.

One thing that started to gain popularity and still holds an audience during these post-Covid times is the use of the metaverse in fashion shows and presentation.

The metaverse is a virtual reality space where people can interact with a digitally-generated reality as well as interacting with other users.

Dectraland, a metaverse platform, is planning on launching the very first metaverse fashion week towards the end of March 2022 with showrooms, virtual fashion shows, talks, and even allowing users to wear and buy clothing as worn by avatars. Not only does the four-day event consist of virtual fashion shows but it also gives users an entire fashion week experience from their screen.

In regards to the growth in innovation and creativity within the industry, designers have used the digital platforms to present clothing in many interesting ways.

Moschino’s Jeremy Scott, who is known for his unique take on both fashion and set production, showcased Moschino’s spring summer 2021 collection through puppet show-like runway where attendees and models were marionette dolls.

This was not only unique it was new, something many needed to see in fashion during the times of Covid-19.

Mugler’s artistic director Casey Cadwallader had a thread of fashion films as the brands main form of fashion presentation, one being their fall/winter collection which had involved music and choreography and was further edited to give a surrealistic element to the collection.

This helped gain the attention of others outside of the fashion world, again making fashion more accessible to those who are interested in other art forms and see those art forms being used in the context of fashion presentation

There are obviously downsides to the use of virtual fashion shows and nothing beats the atmosphere and the culture around real life fashion shows. However, at a time when fashion needed to be seen, it successfully was.

Through the digital form of runway, consumers can purchase pieces straight from the runway while viewers can see a piece in every angle and enjoy a unique experience of fashion runway.

Even though virtual fashion shows were initially a way for us to adapt to the pandemic, the reason it has stayed and is still deemed as important to our internet age of fashion is due to the progress it has made in an industry that could have died is due to the impact of the pandemic.

Through the growth in accessibility, innovation, experimenting and the general evolution in creativity, virtual fashion shows have changed the fashion game and continue to do so two years after the first outbreak of Covid-19.

Feature image by by Ahmad Ardity via Pixabay.