Legendary Italian designer, Giorgio Armani, held a closed-door fashion show for the first time over the weekend. The supermodels and Armani himself were the only persons inside the venue during the show.
The show took place in Milan, Italy, where reports of the coronavirus recently popped up. As of now, there are 219 reports of the virus in and around the city of Milan. For fear of public health, Armani decided to live stream the show. The decision came just hours before the show was set to take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
“The Women’s FW20-21 fashion show will be streamed live at 4 p.m. as a precautionary measure to support public health. The show will be held behind closed doors.”CET today on http://armani.com,” the official Armani page tweeted that day.
The walking display totaled 16-minutes. Like always, Mr. Armani appeared for a bow to his audience following the show. This time was different. Armani did a bow to an empty theater, with no applause or face insight.
Of the nine shows scheduled that day, Armani was the only brand to forgo an audience.
“The show will be held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus situation in Italy. It will be live-streamed on Armani’s website, so please do not attend the show in person. This decision was made to prioritize the well-being of all invited guests and avoid crowded spaces.”
The coronavirus is beginning to have severe effects on more than just human health. This morning, the Dow Jones dropped significantly due to the epidemic in China. And now the fashion industry is facing a threat.
China’s Shanghai fashion week has been indefinitely postponed. And at least 1,000 Chinese fashion reporters, designers, and buyers have been banned from traveling outside of the country.
On top of that, Chinese consumers are among the biggest spenders in the world of luxury fashion. Without the support of Chinese buyers, European luxury brands should expect to see a significant drop in revenue.
The coronavirus might be more severe than we initially thought…
What are your thoughts on Armani’s closed-door fashion show? Was it the right move? Or should the show just had gone on?
Lastly, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
