The new digital Fashion Weeks

After many canceled shows, others without any audience and the first digital attempts seen during the summer, the first real fashion month in times of Covid-19. The proposals of the 41 digital shows in Milan and 45 in Paris were remarkable, which showed that the fashion system does not stop, and that this is only the beginning of a long dialogue between fashion and technology.

If you cannot show your collections on the catwalk, the solution is to make the most of the sources available, accelerating the digitization process that was already (partially) on-going. If New York Fashion Week did not perform as hoped, not making the most of digital resources, it was way better in Milan and Paris. Let's discover together the digital successes presented in the two cities.

The technological "dialogue"

The real dialogue between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons in the presentation of the Prada SS21 collection was certainly the most successful experiment. Digital is part of our life, today more than ever, we have noticed it, Miuccia has noticed it too: always reluctant to technology, in order to focus on humanity, she admitted to having realized how much it is an extension of ourselves, and especially during the lockdown, necessary. The technology itself, during the streaming of the collection, comes to support and becomes the protagonist: an aseptic background, entirely yellow - the favorite color of the new co-director Raf Simons - screens and cameras that surround the models appeared on our displays. Aerial and close-up shots helped to perceive the details and fabrics of the new collection.

Instagram filters

There are also those who opted for a mix of physical and digital, in an edition that has been renamed phygital. Among these, Boss and Blumarine, on the occasion of the first collection signed by the new creative director Nicola Brognano. Both brands have specially created Instagram face filters in theme with their respective collections. With musical background and floral frame, like the prints on Boss fabrics, the filter Milan Flowers. The title explains the brand's eco-sustainable move towards Milan, to which it will donate 40 acacia trees. While Blumarine plays with a swarovski B reflected in an eye for the filter She Are, the same B's of the head covers and belts seen on the catwalk.

Digital messages

Totally digital, MSGM's desire to launch strong messages is repeated. After the hymn to freedom on the occasion of the Digital Week dedicated to men, Massimo Giorgetti tackles the theme of body shaming with the project Autoritratto. Before presenting the new collection, the 12 women chosen by telling about themselves and the relationship with their body. Stronger than any new location or DJ-set, the voices of those who, like them, have managed to love themselves and invite others to do so.

The world of entertainment is facing difficulty in this moment, and Giorgio Armani offered his help, supporting through his two collections. A television and musical casting, from Najwa Nimri - known for the parts in Vis à Vis and La Casa di Carta, to Joan Thiele, Italian singer-songwriter, to Alice Pagani, the star of Baby, to stage the short Building Dialogues. With the intention of democratizing fashion instead, Giorgio Armani chooses to present his first line on television, in a program hosted by Lilli Gruber on La7.

An exceptional casting chosen by Moschino, where digital meets tradition. Wooden puppets replace models and the audience, including the "models" of Gigi Hadid and Anna Wintour in the front row. When the imagination has no limits, not even locked in the house during a lockdown, to start over you have to start from the little one, as Jeremy Scott says.

What happened during Paris Fashion Week

A real audience, even if in streaming, that of the digital fashion show signed by Miu Miu. For her second collection Miuccia Prada chooses a field outlined by curved lines suspended in an optical white where the models, in a sporty and winking uniform, reach the pink stands made up of screens, observing them towards the public. At a time when Zoom calls are part of our everyday life, the Miu Miu digital fashion show reflects reality and makes us all feel part of the Miu Miu Club.

Traveling in space are also the protagonists of the short film by the designer Marine Serre, Amor Fati, with which she makes her digital landing at Paris Fashion Week. A real mini film, launched on the website and on social platforms, kept viewers glued to the screen for 15 minutes, thanks also to the interactive contents to better analyze the collection and the dedicated Instagram filters.

New successful experiments by Dior and Dries Van Noten: both brands have collaborated with artists to whom they have given ample space in their digital show. It is the artist Lucia Marcucci, an exponent of the Visual Poetry artistic movement, who shows her work in a video made by director Alina Marazzi. Collage of images made of dissent, which inspired the customization of the location at the Tuileries Gardens and the collection of Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Dutch artist and photographer Viviane Sassen creates a kaleidoscope of colors in the short film made with Dries Van Noten, inspired by the psychedelic current of the 1920s: a whirlwind of prints, taken from the stills of artist-director Len Lye, create movement and lightheartedness . Multimedia art and fashion come together to convey messages and transcend the everyday.

This concludes the fashion month of change, with spacings, masks combined with looks and streaming from home or office, for insiders. But not only for them, digital manages to bring a wider audience closer to fashion, to make everything less exclusive, especially thanks to Instagram and streaming. The same audience that allows you to reach audience figures never heard before, like the 95 million views for Dior and 685,000 spectators for Giorgio Armani. Numbers that have seen the desire for novelty, comfort, which have put aside the dreamy themes to be inspired by, for concreteness. That fashion in search of a dialogue with its audience, in which we can't wait to take part.