Conscious of the current circumstance and its waves of radical change, Saint Laurent has decided to take control of its pace and reshape its schedule. Now more than ever, the brand will lead its own rhythm, legitimating the value of time and connecting with people globally by getting closer to them in their own space and lives. With this strategy firmly in place, Saint Laurent will not present its collections in any of the pre-set schedules of 2020. Saint Laurent will take ownership of its calendar and launch its collections following a plan conceived with an up-to-date perspective, driven by creativity.

19.2k Likes, 247 Comments - SAINT LAURENT (@ysl) on Instagram: "Conscious of the current circumstance and its waves of radical change, Saint Laurent has decided to..."

Saint Laurent announced that it will skip PFW (Paris Fashion Week) this fall and will not adhere to any fixed fashion calendar for the remained of 2020. In a sign of how the fashion industry will be changed in this global health pandemic, Saint Laurent says it “will take ownership of its calendar and launch its collections with a new perspective that is driven by creativity.

“Now more than ever, the brand will lead its own rhythm, legitimating the value of time and connecting with people globally by getting closer to them in their own space and lives.”

Will Fashion Week Continue?

There is no doubt that the entire of global fashion shows and how many collections a year are delivered — even which retailers will have survived to sell them — is all under discussion.

Previously in April Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, Chloé’s Natacha Ramsay-Levi, & Cedric Charbit Of Balenciaga Discuss The Future Of Fashion Shows, as part of Vogue’s global conversations series.

Screenshots via **Saint Laurent** website. Watch the entire Fall 2020 show on this link.

The dialogue shifted to sustainability, insuring that materials must become sustainable, but creativity must be sustainable too.

“We don’t want to live in a planet that is going to die tomorrow. We need to protect, not only our fashion industry, but also our world,” said Rousteing. As the conversation shifted into sustainability—with Charbit revealing that Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia and his design team have recently issued their own environmental roadmap for 2020 and 2021—Ramsay-Levi gave one of the most poignant quotes of the conversation: “We can’t waste materials because we pollute so much, but we can’t waste creativity as well.”

Ramsay-Levi does not want to let go of major events like Paris Fashion Week, but she dwelled on how fashion’s business side often runs in opposition to the creative side.

“The waste comes from a system that asks for new products all the time … It’s being asked for novelties all the time,” she said, highlighting that the runway shows are a time for her team to express creativity, while the pre-collections are the ones that are giving a longer lifespan on the sales floor. “It’s a waste of creativity. The shapes we create have such a small time to expand, and then they go on sale and lose their value.”
“I think houses have the opportunity to stop, think, and make concrete proposals for a new business … Buying is not a meaningless act. It’s an act of being a part of a community. … I know the next product I will buy is something that has to be relevant.”

Balenciaga’s Charbit agreed that supporting design has to be the top goal for all luxury fashion CEOS. “We’re here to support the vision. We’re not a retail- or marketing-driven company. This is a design-driven company, and if design embraces this I think it’s really important,” he said. “We CEOs [need to] give more space and put creativity at the centre. Business and results will come as a consequence as opposed to the main goal.”