The curse of the fashion calendar

The curse of the fashion calendar is one we have touched upon many times, however a recent article in the Evening Standard by the Independent’s Fashion Editor Alexander Fury highlights the perennial seasonal dilemma: do you go on holiday, or do you buy that Prada coat?

Although humorous and witty, Fury stands not alone in an industry that is all-consuming, all of the time. Fury, who “hasn’t swum in the sea since 1995, or had a tan since 2001” explores the fashion industry’s tendency towards workaholism, and then wonders if the cost of a new Prada coat, the equivalent cost of a week away, is not a better investment.

Fashion journalists and critics can travel as much as one third of the year. There are the women's ready-to-wear shows, men's rtw, couture, pre-collections and special events. This can roughly add up to 4 trips to New York, 6 to Paris, 6 to Milan, 1 Rome, and one-offs to Shanghai Tokyo and an Emirates destination thrown in for good measure. If you cover the B2B sector there are also trade shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Hong Kong and Las Vegas that can be added to the calendar.

The calendar is relentless for both designers and journalists

For those who work as designers, or on the operational front, the calendar is just as relentless. Unlike the Italians, who have the entire month of August to sit on beaches and top up their tans, the fashion wheel for those in London keeps on spinning. With fashion weeks starting as early as the first week in September, August is spent getting the sample collections ready, the press materials photographed and finalising the sales tools. No one wants to start fashion week without look book images, or unable to tell a buyer how much the dress from look 5 costs at wholesale.

And while some designers create just two collections per year, a lot of travel happens in the six months in order to have something to show on the catwalk. Weekends away and holidays are out of reach for many when there are last minute factory visits required, agents to be seen in markets abroad or fabric shows to attend.

With an increasingly global fashion schedule, who has the time to pop away? And the sad truth is there is little enjoyment having time off with all the deadlines looming the moment you return to your desk. Fury is right, that Prada coat seems a much better investment.