A blow for fast fashion advocates. Tom Ford has expressed his intention to return to the traditional runway show calendar after failing to achieve the expected results with his first see-now-buy-now collection.
Also known as show-now-shop-now, this model eliminates the several-month waiting period that traditionally exists between a collection's presentation and its release for sale. This gives shoppers the opportunity to purchase the clothes immediately after the show , which theoretically increases sales.
"In a world that has become more and more immediate, the current way of displaying a collection four months before it is available to customers is an old-fashioned idea that no longer makes sense," said Tom Ford last year.
What the American designer didn't seem to have counted on back then were the complications that an industry still unprepared to change a system that has been entrenched for decades would throw his way . "The shipping schedule doesn't align with the fashion show schedule," Ford now admits.
The director of one of the best films of 2016, 'Nocturnal Animals', acknowledges losses due to having to hold his autumn/winter 2016-2017 collection in the back of stores for a month, from August until the day after the show.
Ford would also be dissatisfied with the less media attention see-now-buy-now collections receive compared to traditional ones. In addition, many believe that those months between the parade and the sale are vital for magazines and blogs to gradually generate desire in buyers.
Does this mean the see-now-buy-now model is going to end before it even begins? It's certainly telling that one of the most powerful names in fashion hasn't been able to find a way to make it work. Meanwhile, he will return with a Spring/Summer 2018 collection , which he will present at New York Fashion Week.