If creativity is the residue of wasted time, as Albert Einstein once said, then surely the catwalk is the platform for trying out new ideas that otherwise would never have come to light. Particularly for designers who are wary of editing and willing to enjoy every idea, in multiple ways.
Fashion shows can be boring. For buyers and journalists, who must go through four consecutive weeks of international shows each season, sometimes as many as eight a day, the worst runway presentations are those with superfluous repetitions of the same clothes and the same ideas. The best collections are from brands that avoid complicated shows, keeping the audience engaged with innovation and novelty.
Editing negligence
Which leaves us with most luxury brands, who are unabashedly keen to sell to as many demographics and customers as possible, and are often guilty of neglecting editing. From Giorgio Armani to Chanel to Dior, the weariness of having to see 80 to 100 looks shown on the runways, often through excruciating repetition, is not uncommon. Luxury brands have a penchant for (too many) variations on a minimal theme. Case in point: That pony print repeating itself on the runway in multiple unnecessary forms, whether it’s a dress, skirt, tunic, coat, T-shirt, or detail. Instead of keeping the variations for the showroom sales team, all the options get a runway outlet. At the behest of the industry audience.
While some designers can draw audiences in despite a large number of looks—like Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta last week, where each outfit spoke to a different character, fabric innovation, fresh style and design—other houses tend to spin only the same disk. .
Here are six reasons to edit those runway collections and avoid runway boredom:
1. Quality over quantity
By editing a collection to include fewer styles, designers can focus on creating exceptional garments with better attention to detail, better fabrics, and better craftsmanship. This allows designers to create pieces that stand out and showcase their skills, rather than running a large number of items that tell the same story and are perhaps less well done.
2. Best Presentation
With fewer looks, designers can showcase their collections in a more cohesive and organized way, allowing viewers to better appreciate the pieces and understand the designer’s vision. This can also make the show more memorable and impactful, as each piece has more time to make an impression.
3. Time and resources
Building large collections is time consuming and expensive, especially for smaller brands. By reducing a collection to fewer looks, designers can save time and resources, allowing them to focus on refining their designs instead of producing a large volume of garments.
4. Consumer demand
In today’s fast-paced fashion industry, consumers are looking for unique, standout pieces to add to their wardrobes. By focusing on quality over quantity, designers can create pieces that are more likely to sell and stand the test of time.
5. Availability
In the boutiques of most luxury brands, the categories of handbags, shoes, accessories and beauty are usually the best-selling items. They also take up most of the floor space. The entire collection shown on the runway rarely makes it to stores, with only a few items chosen by the brand’s retail buyers. Most of the pieces that you see on the catwalk are for image, not for sales.
6. Sustainability
All those garments made for the runway that are never made and never make it to retail have a large carbon footprint. Like the overproduction of fast fashion, brands that overproduce copious garment samples that are not worn after they are presented on the runway contribute equally to the waste of resources in the fashion industry.