- Since Monday July 6, Paris fashion week has started ... online. The parades could not take place in the flesh because of the coronavirus epidemic, the fashion houses were forced to convert with presentations by Internet. From this Thursday, and until July 13, it will be the turn of the men's ready-to-wear collections.
- Organizing an online show is a first in the luxury sector, for which fashion weeks are normally a key event, both from a media and commercial point of view.
- If situation disturbs the luxury players, also affected by a drop in sales, the sector, very concentrated and flourishing in recent years, has rather solid loins.
A funny first. Deprived of their usual parade due to the coronavirus pandemic, the designers are going digital. In an unprecedented way, Parisian fashion week is taking place on the Internet this year, in the wake of other cities in recent weeks. While the haute couture brands exhibited online until Wednesday, it is now the turn of the men's ready-to-wear brands, starting this Thursday.
This desire to be absolutely visible, through licked videos that can be viewed online, shows the economic challenges linked to these parades. “Fashion week is an economic engine and in terms of image. It is on this occasion that all buyers, from department stores as well as multi-brands, come to place their orders ”, explains to 20 Minutes Yves Hanania, co-author of the book The Luxury tomorrow: the new rules of the game ( Dunod, 2019).
Fashion week, the raison d'être of haute couture
If the haute couture houses have only a few happy few direct customers that are difficult to quantify, they exist especially through Paris fashion week, the only one in the world to be reserved for this category of creators. "This event allows them to express their know-how, their expertise, their creativity," explains Franck Delpal, economist at the French Fashion Institute.
Fashion week, with its shows, plays a key role in the global notoriety of brands. “It is a high mass where the staging, essential, must inspire and show creativity. You don't buy a collection like you buy flowers. This is why Karl Lagerfeld pushed the presentation of the collections very high and strong, ”adds Yves Hanania. And, according to an estimate from the French Fashion Institute in 2016, the fallout from Paris fashion week for the surrounding ecosystem (producers, models, etc.) reached 1.2 billion euros.
More than 10 billion turnover in Paris
If we take into account all of the fashion shows in Paris, including ready-to-wear, these fashion shows generate more than 10 billion euros in store sales, according to the IFM. "It's a lot for a B to B event [intended for companies] given the small number of people that this implies", comments Franck Delpal.
Fashion houses therefore felt the pandemic pass, which caused cancellations of showrooms - these spaces intended to exhibit creations on the sidelines of fashion shows - from February. "This year will be difficult," continues Yves Hanania. Luxury brands have lost a lot of money, with a global economy stalling for several months which is struggling to recover. They had already been weakened during the crisis of "yellow vests" like strikes that preceded the Covid. The sales will be all the less important this year as the buyers will not go to the parades, and are still in a wait-and-see position with large unsold stocks which they are negotiating the return of. "
Hit but not sunk?
The absence of traditional parades since the arrival of the coronavirus therefore does not help the situation of the sector generally affected by the Coviddès at the beginning of the year, when the Chinese, the first affected by the pandemic, confined themselves. The group's profits in the second quarter will be particularly penalized in Europe and the United States, specified in late June the CEO of the LVMH group Bernard Arnault. According to the consulting firm Bain & Company, the global luxury market could contract by 20 to 35% in 2020.
Affected, the French luxury sector is still far from being sunk. Already, because the notoriety of French flagships is massive and their audience "already very broad", notes Yves Hanania. This is reflected in the last few years of crazy sales growth in the luxury market. Then, the sector, already very concentrated, has rather solid backs to face the crisis. "The impact of the crisis will probably be absorbed, especially since the tenors of luxury have a social responsibility," said Yves Hanania, recalling however that independent fashion houses are likely to suffer more in such a period. "Being backed by a group allows you to be resilient," confirms Franck Delpal.
A bad pass to consequence
It remains to be seen how long this bad spell will last. “Luxury has a reputation for making large margins for large players, but this is much less the case for the smallest. And even if we have a healthy activity, it becomes very complicated if there is no turnover. There, we are in an external shock which has a very strong impact. Over time, this can become more complicated, ”explains Franck Delpal. If the big luxury groups can find a balance thanks to their flagship products, they could end up being forced to adapt if the crisis is more lasting, believes the professor at the French Fashion Institute.
Especially since, as in the business world with remote work, the Covid has made discover the virtues of digital. “What is in the making is the rise of digital in sales. These movements have already started and are already raising questions in the mass market. Luxury may well be next on the list as online fashion consumption grows. A trend that could raise questions about the profitability of traditional shops.
The situation at the start of the school year could encourage optimism ... except for the confirmation of a second wave. After this summer's parades online, women's ready-to-wear week will be held in Paris from September 28 to October 6 "in a form that will comply with official recommendations in the face of the coronavirus epidemic," said the Federation of high fashion and fashion.
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