French Founders’ Chat Featuring Pascal Morand and Michael Jais

Digital Fashion Weeks go beyond replicating traditional catwalk shows

According to Michael Jais, digital fashion weeks are allowing consumers to have a much more intimate experience and emotional connection with the brands that they love with further outlets to “express their creativity.” Dior, for example, presented an artistic and creatively driven film that told a story to viewers, going beyond a traditional presentation. Pascal Morand noted that the Federation has controlled the digital environment in order to strike the right balance between traditional and contemporary, with both public and brands interests at the forefront of their strategy: “We have one part dedicated to the brands, which is the videos and the calendars, but on the other hand we also have the magazine, with a plethora of content for different markets including behind-the-scenes videos, concerts, roundtables and more.” 

Marrying the physical with the digital has leveled the playing field in order to allow brands and organizations to consider the needs and demands of multiple players in the fashion industry. “The whole point is to have a dialogue through the imagination of the designers and brands on one side, and the clients on the other side.” The ability to reach these clients is also extended further, via digital showrooms and the ability to launch collections to a host of industry professionals, in different markets, at the exact same time. 

Looking forward to a phy-digital future

The introduction of digital fashion weeks does not mean the eradication of physical events and assets. Digital is being (and will continue to be) used as a way to enhance physical products, designs, and ideations in order to continue to present collections to consumers, as well as reach press outlets and key industry leaders. The digitalization of fashion weeks has increased the potential global reach for brands and has allowed the industry to remain elusive, without being selective when it comes to who can log in and view brand videos, collections and more. Pascal Morand noted that “This change in fashion which would have taken 5-10 years has now taken 1 or two months.”