The fashion circuit has long been urbanized into four big cities, and this structure, which involves one city-centric fashion week rolling head over heels into another, is something that has come to dictate the industry’s pace and calendar.
Layering themselves in and around central business districts, as well as architecture that holds global attention, the crisscrossing runways of fashion weeks have become synonymous to the locations of New York, London, Milan and Paris. Over the years these cities have received kudos, and accrued a certain “fashionable allure” for these biannual occurrences they play host to.
Yet, the world stretches far wider than 4 strikingly similar European based cities, and reaping our analysis and understanding of fashion exclusively from the showings of the big four hardly gives a full picture of the creativity emanating from society at large. Further, this so-called “fashionable allure” can’t be seen as an exclusive status, reserved only for locations that have long been on the map. In 2024, GLITCH feels passionately about giving a voice and space to the lesser known fashion weeks in the schedule, and encouraging industry insiders to follow suit.
Copenhagen Fashion Week 29th Jan – 2nd February 2024
Copenhagen fashion week has arguably been scaling the ranks, and managed to hook social media scrollers with the quirky sense of street style seen strolling along the canals in its 2023 edition. Showcasing a myriad of lesser-known Nordic talent, the AW23 schedule will include 31 physical showcases. This fashion week has continued to grow year upon year, and is certainly one to keep an eye on, as it now reaps regular coverage from top tier magazines. In spite of its growth, with sustainability at its core, Copenhagen fashion week continues to uphold its 18 minimum standards, a set of criteria to which all participating brands must comply. Remaining rooted in sustainable creation is a signature quirk of this Scandi event, which will hopefully ensure it remains grounded and dominated by forward-thinking designers as audiences begin to grow.
Seoul Fashion Week 1st February – 5th February
GLITCH has previously spoken about Seoul fashion week, and even dubbed it an epicentre of artistic creativity. The schedule and hub of activity in this city is divided into two streams – Seoul Collection – a collaborative show featuring the best of Korean designers and the key players in the industry, and – Generation Next – which aims to foster the newest developing generation of design. Generation Next is reserved exclusively for brands who are less than 7 years old, keeping Seoul’s attention on fresh, youthful and revitalized participants. Seoul fashion week is remarkably forthright in its goal for growth, and for its last installment it even shifted its calendar one month earlier for the first time since its inception in 2000, with the intention of being more aligned with the big four. Ignited and scaffolded by the booming Korean entertainment and music industry, it will be interesting to see Seoul’s offering this year, as their visibility continues to grow.
Tokyo Fashion Week 11th March – 16th March
Putting Japan on the fashion map is Rakuten’s Tokyo Fashion Week, which typically centers itself in Shibuya Hikarie and Omotesando Hills. Showcasing the best of Japanese design to the world stage, this fashion week has a strong commitment to facilitating the plight of emerging designers. The organization cites its three missions as a) providing a gateway to success, b) becoming the starting point for cooperation between designers, manufacturers and apparel retailers, and c) making Tokyo both more fashionable and fun-loving. Traditional East Asian design is probably one of the most disparate to the current offerings from the Western big four, and as such Tokyo is a hub we should be keeping an eye on to inspire stark newness.
Vancouver Fashion Week April 23rd – April 28th 2024
Vancouver fashion week focuses on the showcasing of both Canadian and international designers, and like the aforementioned events, has an eye to become one of the global fashion capitals. Beginning in 2001, this fashion week was historically named “International Fashion Week” and despite rebranding to put Vancouver on the map, the organization still retains a very multicultural and diverse approach to its scheduling and casting. In 2016 Vancouver began to incorporate a Kid’s fashion week into its eventing, which has since become a strong focal point for childrenswear designers and given the citie’s schedule a certain edge. Being the second largest fashion week in North America, Vancouver is pulling the tail of New York, and most certainly providing a more assorted and variegated showing of fashion.
India Fashion Week 16th-17th November 2024
In alliance with the British Asian Community, the India Fashion Week in fact settles itself in London, and strives to showcase the beautiful fashion emerging from India in a capital that already holds its own fashion week. Positioned adjacent to the National Asian Wedding Show, the duo of events attracts a large fusion of culture to the Novotel location in London, which becomes adorned with a range of Asian fashion in the month of November. Diversifying the fashion events that are held in London, and facilitating the dispersion of Asian fashion influence to onlookers who can’t feasibly travel, the Platinum Group’s strategic choice to lay their territory in London is perhaps a method that should be adopted by other global fashion councils.
Written by Hebe Street from GLITCH Magazine
