1. Streetstyle is best suited for the streets
In a democratic move, many designers took their collections to the streets: Rebecca Minkoff, Alexander Wang and Tommy Hilfiger all hosted their SS17 shows outdoors. As more designers approach the #buyseewear movement, the backdrop of the city streets are the epitome of #streetstyle.
2. See-Now-Buy-Now Format
With the advent of the new fashion calendar, designers are courting impatient millennials in a bold direct-from-runway sales cycle. Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Coach and Tom Ford transformed their runway shows to accommodate buying on the website as soon as the show began live-steaming. It will be interesting to see how well production matches demand following this new sales program.
3. What about NYFWM?
It's already been stated that New York Fashion Week: Men's is having an identity crisis. With three seasons under it's belt, the bulk of the designers showing at NYFW Men's are considered emerging. The amount of buzz surrounding women's NYFW has caused some brands to incorporate menswear into their womenswear showings in order to streamline operations and cut back on costs. Always innovative, Burberry has chosen this method for their upcoming London shows, thereby leaving men's fashion week behind.
4. Snapchat + Instagram are Going Strong
As the average cost of a runway show is in the $100,000 range, and this coincides with a rapidly changing fashion show calendar, designers are now turning to Snapchat and Instagram stories to reveal their collections. Designer Misha Nonoo has been at the forefront of using social media in lieu of a traditional runway show. This season, she hosted a takeover of Refinery29's snapchat channel for her "see now, buy now" collection. French fashion house J. Mendel held their fashion show on Instagram Stories this season with a live feed from a showroom viewing at the Standard East.
5. #RunwayForAll
The brains behind Instagram created #RunwayForAll last spring in a move to increase the diversity of models featured. This season, Christian Sirano defied the industry norm and featured five plus size models to walk his show; Ashley Graham, Christina Hendricks and Pamela Anderson showed support of the body positivity movement. And boy did the internet applaud! Christian Siriano has been mentioned nearly 8,000 times with a 92% favorable sentiment according to Brandwatch. Mass market favorite J.Crew used staff, friends, and family to model their SS17 presentation.