Pros and Cons of The Changing Fashion Calendar

Trying something new is never easy, especially if doesn’t only affect the person making the change.

For Fall-Winter ’21 market, we at Haus Agency for the first time ever showed PreFall and Fall-Winter collections together. This was partly done in response to #rewiringfashion – a proposal to reimagine how the fashion industry could and should work, facilitated by BoF.

As a boutique agency, we are by no means singlehandedly changing the industry but what we can offer are our learnings so far.

PROS

-       Every buyer that normally buys both pre and main said that they wished all designers would do this. Showing two drops at the same time gives the buyer a chance to see the collection as a whole. Most retailers plan their budgets for a season as a whole, not separately for pre and main. Showing both drops at the same time takes out the guessing game of understanding how much budget to leave for the next drop and then hoping that the next drop would have styles that are suitable for the store.

-       This allows for the designers to reduce each drop by about 10-15% without sacrificing the ability to still give buyers enough choices. Designing four full collections per year is a lot of pressure on smaller, independent designers but it feels like something that has to be done if the designer wants to partner with a major retailer that expects frequent drops of newness. Additionally, PreFall and Fall-Winter collections are usually shown extremely close to each other – December-January and February-March. There is no time to design another thought through collection in between, and often times the main FallWinter collection suffers. By combining the two drops, the collection is more edited yet still comprehensive enough for buyers to be able to buy into two separate drops.

-       Instead of thinking of a new concept every three months, designers have at least five months to prepare one well-rounded collection.

-       Buyers are bombarded with less appointments and can allow themselves to give each collection the necessary focus to make a selection that is cohesive and represents the collection in the best way. There is one email exchange to book the appointment, one appointment, one order to submit. Technically, this can cut down the buyer’s work load by at least 35% as the buyer does spend a little more time on their order. However, this time is more focused and productive than when dividing up the buy.

-       Retailers that usually don’t invest time in looking at pre-collections, had a chance to see them together with main, and some ended up placing an order for pre because they saw styles that they actually better than some of the styles in main. Because of this, their main budget was reduced a bit, but the total order was still larger than if they had just ordered for main.

-       As already mentioned in the #rewiringfashion proposal, buyers and press expend too much time, money and energy traveling. Now that we’re showing online, buyers feel like they’re constantly in market and are experiencing Zoom fatigue. Now as well as once we go back to showing collections in person, these issues could be easily avoided if we showed two drops at the same time. Not only would this save valuable resources of retailers but also brands and agencies.

CONS

-       Some of our brands felt that this change was a bit rushed and didn’t have enough time to design for pre and main together; however, as we continue to do this, a new rhythm will develop, and designers will actually have more time to dedicate to their collections.

-       Currently buyers are so used to the rat race that sometimes they don’t have the time to read the email that explains that we are showing two drops together thoroughly. As with every change, this will take time and getting used to and during our first try we’ve definitely had some explaining to do. We will still continue to show our main collection through February for the buyers that were not in a position to make their buys in January.

-       Brands are worried that because of this we can miss retailers that are used to the old system and there may be reduction in orders.

When looking at the pros and cons, it’s quite obvious that this type of system would be more beneficial for everyone in the long run. It’s the middle of February and we at Haus Agency have collected most of FW21 orders for our brands. The brands can start planning their production and have enough time to think about SS22. Our retail partners are set with their orders and will not need to book another appointment for February. Now we can focus on working together on marketing efforts and plan for better sell throughs.

However, given the cons mentioned above, skepticism can still slip in as with any new idea or endeavor. When new practices are implemented, it’s important to remind ourselves of the facts and not feelings and continue to weigh pros and cons.

So how will we proceed? What will happen in June? Will the industry finally take the maybe a little scary and at first uncomfortable steps to make a change or are we going to follow the broken system that left the industry tired and uninspired?

My hope is that all independent designers can unite and embrace this change together in order make a real difference.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

x Karina