French fashion executives reject see now, buy now schedule

New York - The Federation Francaise de la Couture du Pret-a-Porter des Couturiers et des Creatures de Mode, France's governing fashion organization, has announced that they will not be adapting to the see now, buy now schedule that the CFDA has proposed for New York Fashion Week, and brands like Burberry have adopted for their runway shows in London.

Ralph Toledano, president of the Federation told WWD "our clientele is educated and informed on how the system works." After the CFDA announced that they were exploring the possibility of shifting the New York Fashion Week calendar to a consumer focused schedule, the Federation comprised a task force which included Dior's Sidney Toledano, Chanel's president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky, Saint Laurent chief executive officer and Francesca Bellettini, and an executive vice president at Hermes to review the proposed alternative format to the Fashion Week schedules.

The board of the federation, which represents all the aforementioned brands, including other luxury labels such as Nina Ricci, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Maison Margiela, Paul Smith, and Kenzo, all voted unanimously against the decision to change the Paris Fashion Week calendar to a consumer focused schedule.

France rejects the notion of in-season fashion shows

Ralph Toledano said that customers are used to waiting for collections to hit stores, and it also increases their desire for the product. In addition, he also stated that changing the schedule would be difficult given the level of craftsmanship that goes into French fashion, and it would be impossible for designers to sit on collections for four weeks before they were unveiled to the public. He believes it would also be impossible to avoid leaked imagery.

“We have a common position on this issue. What is Paris? Paris is undisputedly the fashion capital of creation,” Toledano said to WWD. “As far as we are concerned, the present system is still valid.”

Toledano is a staunch advocate for the status quo, which makes perfect sense. France's luxury goods sector is thriving, so why mess up a perfectly good thing.

In a statement, Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault, said he was against the idea of showing collections six months after they are designed. “In luxury, I think that is a mistake. The notion of ‘see-now, wear-now, or sell-now,’ for example, is a negation of dreaming, of desire. The catwalk show is an integral part of the creative process. You don’t cut the creative process in two in a luxury brand,” he said.

Toledano hasn't addressed how they will handle brands like Vetements, who have announced they intend to show in-season collections going forward. The Federation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.