The Coronavirus Fashion Week
Nothing quite causes a panic like a near-global pandemic. The coronavirus, a respiratory infection similar to pneumonia, sprouted from the Wuhan province of China at the very beginning of 2020. Public health officials have been baffled about how the virus has been transmitted so rapidly across the world as 46 countries have been affected, including the United States. Approximately 82,294 coronavirus cases have been confirmed so far this year around the world and 219 cases have been confirmed in one of the hearts of the fashion world this week—Italy.
Milan Fashion Week closed a few days ago, but with so many concerns over the public health crisis occurring, it was met with criticism and fear. Health officials warned organizers of Milan Fashion Week of the dangers of having so many people together in one space since we now know that the virus can be transmitted interpersonally. Some have argued for the institution of bans of some public events in the region where the outbreak occurred in Italy. As I’m writing this, President John Thrasher of Florida State University has cancelled classes at the Florence Study Abroad Center for the next week while they monitor the situation.
Image Courtesy: The Guardian
This public events ban does spread though Milan. Most of Fashion Week had already come and gone at this point, but there were still a few shows left in the schedule. Some continued on to small, invited audiences; some were cancelled all together. Most notably, the Armani Fashion House made the decision to continue their show—without the audience. Giorgio Armani, the legendary designer of 45 years, made the announcement that their final show of the week would continue “behind closed doors… live streamed in front of an empty theatre on the Armani website.”
Image Courtesy: New York Post
This move by the famed Armani Fashion House was the correct one. Milan is only the latest fashion center to be affected by the coronavirus. China’s Shanghai Fashion Week was indefinitely delayed a month in advance from its original scheduling from March 24 to March 30 of this year. Now, the organizers are saying that Shanghai Fashion Week will continue on, also in an online format like the Armani show did in Milan. Shanghai Fashion Week will be livestreamed via Alibaba’s Tmall, a major source of online retail and manufacturing in China, to reach its audience and promote their upcoming spring and summer lines.
For these big fashion week shows to be livestreamed is not necessarily a new thing. New York Fall Fashion Week of 2019 was shown digitally on the Fashion Week Online website, where a complete schedule and listing of upcoming online shows can be found. This ultimately makes high-end fashion more available to the general public; it is up to them if they can afford the high price tag. Fashion Weeks are typically exclusive events to A-List celebrities and to see that even some of their most treasured weeks of the season can be uprooted by the coronavirus can be scary. It shows that these celebrities, models, and designers we often put on a pedestal are experiencing disruptions in their normal lives is yet another reminder that they are also human.
Strike Out,
Writer: Claire Reed
Editors: Gillian McKendree and Tabitha Labrato
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