A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, it lets the industry know what's "in" and what's "out" for the season. The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the fashion capitals Milan, London, New York, São Paulo and Paris.

Characteristics

In the major fashion capitals, fashion weeks are semiannual events. January through March designers showcase their autumn and winter collections and September through November the spring/summer collections are shown. Fashion weeks must be held several months in advance of the season to allow the press and buyers a chance to preview fashion designs for the following season. This is also to allow time for retailers to arrange to purchase or incorporate the designers into their retail marketing.

Schedule

The schedule begins with New York, followed by London, with the penultimate fashion week in Milan ending the events in Paris. These four cities are the traditional "big four" fashion weeks that are followed by new emerging fashion weeks globally.
The Menswear shows occur in between autumn(fall)/winter and spring/summer in Milan.

Some fashion weeks can be genre-specific, such as a Miami Fashion Week (Swimwear), Rio Summer (Swimwear), Prêt-a-Porter (ready-to-wear) Fashion Week, Couture (one-of-a-kind designer original) Fashion Week and Bridal Fashion Week, while Portland (Oregon, USA) Fashion Week shows some eco-friendly designers.

Controversy

The dominance of the big four benefits industry participants. For example, buyers, journalists, models and celebrities can limit their travel and simply move from one to the other over the four week period. However the arrangement is criticized for stifling design talent in emerging fashion hubs such as Los Angeles.

Cities with Fashion Weeks

See also

• Fashion design

• Haute couture

• Ready-to-wear