What Happens at a Fashion Week?

New York Fashion Week is on and London Fashion Week starts this week. So we thought this would be the perfcet time for the follow up post about fashion week. So we already summarised what a fashion week show is. Now let’s talk about what happens there.

So sadly I don’t have first hand knowledge of what happens at a Fashion Week since I have never been. So this is all theoretical information rather than practical knowledge. Bidisha attended India Fashion Week sometime back so have a look at that as well.

So we know the models are wearing samples when they strut down the runway.

Thats right. Based on what buyers like and want, the designers and the brands will make the samples or certain pieces from the samples into clothes available for retail.

What the hell is a buyer? Someone buying clothes is a buyer?

Well, yes and no. A buyer is a person from a store (think huge retail outlets like Selfridges, Nordstrom, Net-a-Porter, Barney’s and so on) who choose the products that a retail outlet will be stocking for the next season. For fashion stores especially, a buyer is a very important person and holds a lot of power. A buyer is someone who indirectly (through the pieces they choose to buy and stock in their stores) tells a designer what to make.

Ok that’s interesting. But then if its a buyer making all the calls, what about fashion writers and magazines? I did see Devil Wears Prada you know…

Fashion writers and journalists are a very important part of a fashion week – they are the people giving their opinions on what is fashionable and what isn’t. Most importantly, fashion writers and magazine editors are the ones that choose the designers, brands and items that make it to the fashion magazines.

But what’s the big deal about magazines? Its not like I go out and buy everything advertised in Vogue..

Actually, you are not meant to. Valentino doesn’t really expect you to buy the lace dress advertised in the new Vogue. But think of it this way – the fashion magazine is pretty much one of the few links between designer brands and the average consumer. Advertising in a fashion magazine is just a branding exercise rather than getting you to actually buy the particular product the advertisement is about.

Yeah – I want to know more about that. But lets stick to fashion weeks today. So who else is involved in a fashion week?

Well, from an organisational point of view, the organiser. For instance, the British Fashion Council is the organiser of the London Fashion Week. Then of course, you have sponsors. You have designers and brands who pay to show their collections at the Fashion Week. The people involved in a designers collection are the models, there are photographers, makeup and hair stylists. And let’s not forget, there are bloggers!

So what happens once a fashion week ends?

Most journalists, bloggers, writers, models and buyers will move onto to the next fashion week. Buyers would have given in their orders or will prepare their orders. Designers will start preparing for the next fashion week they are showing at for that season or start preparing to fulfil the orders placed.

Ok – help me understand this. So how important is a Fashion Week to a city? 

It might seem all fun and party but this is serious business. For instance, New York Fashion Week brings in more money to New York than the Super Bowl, the US Open and the marathon, to the tune of $887 million (as per 2015 estimates). So for the four main cities, Fashion Week means a lot of tourism, lot of employment – a lot of money.

Thats a lot of take in. But hopefully this will be enough information to understand the basics.

Sure! And this is great if you want to read more about Fashion Week.

Anyway. So thats done. Lets us know if you have any specific questions – I will try and answer some but no guarantees I will be able to! In the meantime make sure you are following us on Instagram and check out our Facebook page. And a warning, there will be a lot of cake and travel coming up on the blog soon but don’t worry – the fashion is always there!

– Anisha

All the pictures used in this post are from and belong to the London Fashion Week, (unless otherwise specified) British Fashion Council.