Coronavirus has made adjustments to the schedule of Fashion Weeks. Hermès, Max Mara, Chanel, Christian Dior and Gucci have canceled their cruise line shows, which were supposed to take place in different parts of the world in April and May. The same fate affected men's and couture shows, which usually gather guests in June and July.
The introduction of quarantine also influenced the displays of domestic brands. The organizing committee of the Moscow Fashion Week, together with the management of Gostiny Dvor, decided not to hold the event scheduled for March 24-29. But the organizers of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, which was supposed to take place immediately after - from March 31 to April 4, came up with the initiative to organize shows in empty halls and broadcast them online for guests. However, this idea was quickly abandoned: the designers, who at that time had already made seasonal collections, were offered to shoot a lookbook, make a virtual presentation or even direct a short film.
Since it often takes more time to prepare such content than to develop the concept of a full-fledged show, the schedule of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia changed until the last day. For example, it did not include the name of the headliner of previous seasons, the designer of the eponymous brand Roma Uvarov, but he still managed to present his collection.
The film, shot in the fields of Roma's hometown, Maikop, was broadcasted by the organizers of the Fashion Week in turn with presentations by other designers on the site of the Aizel online store, as well as on the websites of media partners. The entire schedule fit into two days - April 4 and 5, with re-broadcasts on April 6 and 7. Between shows one could dance to a DJ set (naturally, without leaving home), admire the updated logo of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia (it was made on the basis of digitized fabrics from the Museum of Moscow collection) or listen to lectures by invited speakers (they went live on TikTok). Among them are Igor Andreev, former editor-in-chief of Numéro Russia, Daniil Trabun, media director of Yandex. Dzen, Sasha Amato, author of the Golden Chihuahua Telegram channel, Valley fashion illustrator, who collaborated with Givenchy, Lancome and Dolce & Gabbana,and the designer of the first digital costume sold in Russia, Regina Turbina.
1 of 4 Screenshot of the broadcast of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia on the platform of the online store Aizel Screenshot of the broadcast of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia on the platform of the online store Aizel Screenshot of the broadcast of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia on the platform of the online store Aizel Screenshot of the broadcast of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia on the Aizel online store platform
In addition to the TikTok lecture hall, Regina Turbina participated in the Fashion Week itself, and for her the virtual format has become more of an advantage than an inconvenience. The girl shot a short video about a new collection of real clothes, which she is developing under the ophelica brand, and also showed a lookbook with the integration of several digital outfits.
“This erases the boundaries of time and opens the door to a new reality,” comments Regina Turbina. “Very soon we will see how brands will exhibit virtual samples, show entire collections, and people who like the design will be able to order a real thing. That is, only the clothes that will be bought will be produced, and not endless products for store rails and subsequent incineration."
1 of 12 ophelica, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © ophelica press service, spring-summer 2020 © press service
The founder of the Valeria SAAD brand also spoke about the problem of overproduction and overconsumption of clothing. “All these things are on store shelves. Are they really needed? Another skirt, another pair of jeans, another T-shirt, bought at a sale for a second burst of endorphins, settle down like a dead weight in the apartment, end up in a landfill,”read the lines in her short film, where chaotic shots from factories replace images of models in monophonic colors, constructivist and not tied to trends.
However, not all designers set themselves the goal of conveying the concept of the collection or drawing attention to pressing global problems. Many of them wanted to demonstrate in detail the novelties that guests of the virtual Fashion Week could not touch or consider. So, House of Leo, which staged a show for the fall-winter 2020/21 season at the end of 2019, this time focused on the main highlight - the bag. The video shows the process of "burning" the drawings on natural leather, which correspond to the theme of the entire collection - "Goodbye, cowboy".
Designer Sasha Amplitude, specializing in the development of couture corsets from building materials, combined them into a presentation with the same paradoxical accessories - belts in the shape of a hand, capes made of “New Year's” rain and masks made of long needles. Olga Kosterina gave an opportunity to consider pleating, which complemented the beige bomber dress, resembling a mushroom lamella. Sisters Alisa and Yulia Ruban took a close-up of the stripes in the form of book pages that adorned dresses, vests and trench coats. And the ideologists of the Mineral Weather brand Alexander Olkhovsky and Anna Pavlova showed brooches in the form of flowers, birds and horses, wearing them on the dress of the short film heroine.
Aliona Paul, a virtual influencer, was the guide between all presentations at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia in the spirit of today's traditions of foreign Fashion Weeks. She reminded of the start of the broadcast of the shows, and also showed digital outfits - for example, a kimono made of dense virtual cotton, worn over a tight suit made of knitted digital fabric, or a puffy vest in bright red, mixed with real-life glasses from the Fakoshima collection. According to Alinona Paul, her costumes were made by a “mysterious contemporary artist” in collaboration with subscribers (there are almost 20 thousand of them in the digital avatar) and are intended to inspire designers to create virtual clothes. Aliona, like Regina Turbina, believes that such a fashion will help change the culture of consumption and after quarantine it will never be the same.
1 of 6 Digital Avatar of Alion Paul © instagram.com/aliona_pole Digital Avatar of Alion Paul © instagram.com/aliona_pole Digital Avatar of Alion Paul © instagram.com/aliona_pole Digital Avatar of Aliona Paul © instagram.com/aliona_pole Digital Avatar of Aliona Paul © instagram. com / aliona_pole Digital Avatar of Aliona Paul © instagram.com/aliona_pole>