Fashion
Saint Laurent Drops Out Of The Usual Fashion Week Calendar
"Saint Laurent will take ownership of its calendar and launch its collections following a plan conceived with an up-to-date perspective, driven by creativity," the brand said.
Don't expect to see Saint Laurent on any fashion week schedules in the near future. The French house announced on Monday that it will not be presenting any collections on pace with the 2020 fashion calendar.
"Conscious of the current circumstance and its waves of radical change, Saint Laurent has decided to take control of its pace and reshape its schedule," the brand said in a press release. "Now more than ever, the brand will lead its own rhythm, legitimating the value of time and connecting with people globally by getting closer to them in their own space and lives. With this strategy firmly in place, Saint Laurent will not present its collections in any of the pre-set schedules of 2020. Saint Laurent will take ownership of its calendar and launch its collections following a plan conceived with an up-to-date perspective, driven by creativity."
This makes Saint Laurent the first major French fashion house to announce new plans due to the Covid-19 crisis. Creative director Anthony Vaccarello spoke to WWD about his recent decision, noting that a change to the status quo had been a long time coming. Over the past few seasons, Vaccarello has experimented with off-calendar runway shows with his collections, showcasing in New York City and Malibu in June of 2018 and 2019, respectively.
"This is not about going against the authorities. It's about being positive, not passive. We have known for years that something has to change. The time is now," he said. "There is no good reason to follow a calendar developed years ago when everything was completely different. I don't want to rush a collection just because there is a deadline. This season, I want to present a collection when I am ready to show it."
Earlier in April, Marc Jacobs announced a similar change during a conversation with Edward Enninful for Vogue, saying that "it's life that stimulates and provides a catalyst for what me and my team create each season, so I wouldn't say [self-isolation is] the most creative place to be."
"To be honest, I don't know what we'll be doing or when we'll be starting," Jacobs said about a new collection. "To design a collection, I need my team. And my team needs to look at fabric, and those fabrics come from Italy. We travel. [There are] a lot of things that go on. We've got to let go of old ideas. I don't know if I can get far enough in this process without grieving the process I knew and let go of that to see a new tomorrow."
