2017 Fashion Week Dates

Official Fashion Week Dates 2017

Fashion Week 2017 (New York, London, Milan, and Paris): What to Expect

After weeks of fashion shows from New York, London, Milan, and Paris, the fashion season officially came to an end last March. But never fear, the parade of the hundreds of women showcasing the latest trends on the ready-to-wear catwalk is set to begin again in New York on September 7, 2017, cultimating in Paris on October 3, 2017. Fashion aficionados all over the world are already excited for next season.

Last season, Paris undoubtedly grabbed the limelight, with amazing collections including Chanel's rocket launch in the Grand Palais. (Even Anna Wintour was seeing clapping delightedly.) But this year, that title will be claimed by New York. Next season, upcoming and promising designers will debut at New York Fashion Week Spring / Summer 2018. New York has long been known as the fashion capital where the brooding fashion designer can showcase his or her work. Look for a slew of emerging designers as well as big names like Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. In addition, some designers and brands are also planning to enhance the way they present their collection by incorporating the latest innovation such as augmented reality and (of course) live stream.

In response to complaints about the overcrowded schedule of the fashion season in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, some efforts have been made to curtail the number of fashion shows. But as NYFW, in particular, is the chance for enterprising designers to grab the limelight, we may have to wait and see what happens.

With the latest turnout of political events and the dismay being expressed by prominent personalities in the fashion industry regarding the current administration, expect the mixture of fashion and politics to continue. Last season, some show closing remarks were given by Hilary Clinton. While we do not expect a prominent political personality to do the same this September / October, we are still expecting that some designers will express their political disgust.

With all attention focused in New York, it seems that Paris, Milan, and London will have to take the back seat. But this doesn't mean these capitals can be ignored: far from it! Milan is promising a revamp on how they present premium brands such as Ferragamo and Gucci. Paris, on the other hand, claims that they will end the season with the biggest fashion party that the industry has seen. So far, London has not given us specifics to look forward to, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. Since the 3 major cities are planning to revolutionize the way they present fashion, we are also expecting the same with London.

So mark your calendar and stay tuned for updates about the latest happenings on the upcoming fashion week calendar.

Fashion Week 2017

2017 will play host to a number of international fashion weeks. As always, the focus is likely to remain centered around the "Big 4" of New York, London, Milan, and Paris.

The biannual series will be held in February and September. February's runway shows, following tradition, will be called "Fall 2017," and September's will be called "Spring 2018."

The reason, of course, is that fashion weeks traditionally functioned as "previews" of the seasons to come. A slower retail cycle once dictated that looks be shown well in advance of production.

Now, of course, all of that has changed.

The immediacy of the Internet -- and the rise of "fast fashion" retailers -- have led to a major disruption in consumer expectations, leading retailers to rethink the way they sell clothes.

The change is perhaps nowhere as evident as in fashion week.

The result? "See now, buy now" shows, where clothes from the runway are available directly following, or even during shows. Tom Ford, Nicole Miller, and Tommy Hilfiger all made use of this last season. But the approach has also found favor with designers such as Vivienne Tam, Rebecca Minkoff, and Diane von Furstenberg.

The "see now, buy now" approach can take many forms: from items debuting online as the show begins, "pop up shops" selling items at the venue, or even "see, buy, wear" (basically, "point, click, buy"), touchable videos from production entities such as Cinematique or Shoppable.

The revolution in fashion week has been on for some time, and every season brings surprises. If February 2017 follows the pattern of last season, we can expect upwards of 150 shows at NYFW alone: many from IMG's NYFW: The Shows, but also many designers that fly independently. The independent productions, although sometimes (but not always) lacking the polish of IMG, allow for emerging talent to debut in the same timeframe as many of the "canonized" designers such as Calvin Klein or Carolina Herrera.

Following NYFW is London Fashion Week, which is best known for its spate of talented, cutting-edge designers, including household names such as Burberry or Vivienne Westwood. London was the first to live-stream their videos, and today make their videos available for sharing via YouTube.

Milan Fashion Week comes third during "fashion month," and is one of the strongest of the fashion weeks, with catwalks from legendary designers such as Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi -- the list is as long as it is impressive. Although many of the shows happen under the umbrella of the Italian Chamber of Fashion, many more do not.

Many consider Paris Fashion Week to be the "mother" of all fashion weeks. And though, technically, Paris was the last city to adopt a fashion week (the first, surprisingly, was New York), Paris is, after all, the birthplace of fashion, and of the "haute couture" salon shows that became fashion week.

Paris, is, undeniably, a breathtaking series of shows. Rivaled only by Milan, Paris is home to shows from Louis Vuitton to Commes de Garcons, YSL (currently still rebranded as Saint Laurent Paris), Balenciaga, Balmain, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Hermès, Givenchy, Miuccia Prada's MiuMiu, and perhaps the heaviest hitters of all: Chanel (led by Karl Lagerfeld) and Dior (now helmed by Maria Grazia Chiuri: last season, her first, showed us a millennial-friendly, playful, fencing-inspired collection).

Attendance at these events can be a difficult proposition, at best, with New York being the most penetrable to the public. But even then, chances are best (even guaranteed) at some of the "open to the public" events: which span everything from ticketed shows to pop-up shops (in stores like Bloomingdales), or even contest-driven shows or charity events.