Paris couture week: ready-to-wear brands invade as industry changes gears
A ready-to-wear invasion has hit Paris couture week as US brands Proenza Schouler and Rodarte switched from their regular New York slots
US ready-to-wear brands Proenza Schouler and Rodarte switched from their regular New York slots to open Paris couture week Sunday, in a sign the business and organisational model of global fashion is evolving to meet the industry’s changing needs.
Here are some highlights from day one of fall-winter 2017 collections.
BRANDS DITCH NEW YORK FOR PARIS
In a blow to the New York Fashion Week calendar, labels Rodarte and Proenza Schouler have decided to move their ready-to-wear women’s collections from the Big Apple to the City of Light and show during Paris couture week.
Both houses have said that this change will apply for the foreseeable future.
In a statement, Proenza Schouler said it is “to break from the traditional ready-to-wear calendar in order to pursue a business model more aligned to the realities of commerce today.”
It adds that “currently a large percentage of the brand’s sales are placed during the pre-collection market.”
Paris couture week falls during the pre-collection season, and the move to the French capital is being seen as a way for houses to synchronise calendars and capitalise on the media glare that Paris couture week brings.
Rodarte, designed by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, has said that it is aligning its runway collections with the couture schedule starting in July 2017. But the house will also add a third collection to their yearly production schedule that is likely to be presented in New York.