If you’ve been following social media and celebrities lately, you may have heard the buzz around fashion week. Fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event that showcases designers’ latest collections to buyers, journalists, and other people. It technically runs for a month, as a different fashion week is in the four fashion capitals around the world : New York, London, Milan and Paris. Designers like Ralph Lauren, Alexander Mcqueen, Versace and Dior are a part of the many designer brands that showcase their new collections during the industry event.

Fashion week started off as “salon shows”, where customers were invited to view different collections at the fashion brands atelier. The main goal of these shows were not to showcase out there designs, but to find clients and sell the collection. Eventually, this practice reached the city of New York, with the first show being held in 1903. By the 1920s, many department stores and boutiques adopted the practice as well.

Eventually, Eleanor Lambert, a prominent New York fashion publicist, decided to move all of these shows together in the same time frame. At the time, it was called “Press Week.” It was held at various locations, including The Plaza Hotel. Eventually becoming what we know is as today. Other cities followed suit, with Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week eventually all being established as well. Over time, as fashion week began to attract more celebrities and famous people, it’s risen in prominence. 

Nowadays, fashion week attracts large crowds, with paparazzi swarming various celebrities and influencers at each event. Brands clamour to secure spots on the fashion calendar, and its impact is seen in trends across the world. With shows now being live streamed and broadcast live, new styles and trends are able to spread quickly around the globe and slowly trickle down into the hands of consumers.