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My concern is not at all what lessons other fashion houses will learn take from Chanel’s virtual fashion show, but rather the lessons of this show for others not involved in high-end fashion yet who already work in fashion today, who work to be recognized as participating in a world that is larger than the optics of private interests would lead one to believe, for the creators of fashion who already create and aim for their designs and creations to be seen by others. This virtual show revealed itself as an actual failure.įailure can be instructive not just for those that fail, but for others as well. What is new, rather, is the form that such failure took, being shot, produced, edited and revealed on a virtual platform.
That high fashion can, in its already limited understanding of escapism, disappoint for being unable to deal with contemporary issues is nothing new. The criticism does not reveal, as it were, anything new about the particular features and fundamental characteristics of these times, and high-end fashion’s response. So, it strikes me that the criticism of the show as being escapist and unable to address contemporary unrest does not go far enough. High-end fashion has always been politically suspect, when not outright collaborationist with authoritarianism. This political disappointment is, of course, nothing new. Chanel’s virtual show, according to the New York Times review, disappointed, as it failed to acknowledge ongoing civil and social unrest, providing a poor ersatz of an escape. The show was launched at a time when many around the world took to the streets to protest ongoing police violence and systemic racist practices of the criminal justice system - declaring in the same moment a right not just to the streets but to the city itself. Or is it? Not so, according to that Chanel virtual fashion show. So much, then, for the end of fashion as Teri Agins once wrote. With this virtual fashion show, we are being shown how high-end fashion conducts a fashion show virtually. The collection comprised over 50 looks and showed models individually - for social distance reasons, one imagines - showcasing the various pieces of the ensemble. The virtual show, comprised of photos and a video of a fashion show with the catwalk as the beach and a balcony overlooking the sea - we’re in Capri, virtually, you see. June 8th saw the unveiling of Chanel’s virtual fashion show for 2020/2021, entitled “Balade en Méditerranée” - a ride on, or cruising, the Mediterranean. The same concerns and interests were directed to the world of fashion, in particular the world of high fashion.
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We saw how aware and responsive, or not, various companies and businesses were in addressing the demands of the times. We’ve also had front row seats, albeit virtually, to witness how effectively and ineffectively companies were in dealing with going virtual, both in terms of the products they provided their customers as well as the safety and support they provided employees. A virtual commons, the hopeful product during these times, offers solace and consolation, community and belonging, precisely when people are physically isolated and remote from one another. What we witnessed and continue to witness is the potential for a virtual commons - in a time when net neutrality is up for debate, this is not an incidental concern. We are able to see, in real time, stories of success and failure, individuals confessing their failures (and receiving words of encouragement and support in return), while also sharing their triumphs. It is truly remarkable to see the creative extent that individuals go to, not just for themselves but for those around them, during these uncertain and chaotic times. Those working from home had to additionally provide care for their elders as well as their children, thus wearing not just many but all hats: parent, caregiver, educator, employee, and so much more. Office buildings in major cities closed for business, opting instead for employees to work from home. Universities went virtual at the drop of a hat, prior to the future virtual drop of graduating seniors’s caps.
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The various responses have assumed - depending on the business one works in, one’s own personal situation, and even the city one lives in - a number of forms. With more than half of 2020 behind us, we have witnessed a variety of creative responses to the necessities of being quarantined, self-isolated, and working virtually.