1-9 MARCH: PARIS FASHION WEEK

If you are a fashion critic and have been following most of the fashion weeks, by now New York with its hundreds of events, presentations and catwalk shows, is just a distant memory and Paris is a beacon of light at the end of a long and relentless month of shows. The fashion critics who don’t usually find the collections seen so far too interesting often have high hopes about Paris.

Yet this season the French capital opens its fashion week with a major doubt: what will become of John Galliano? Last week, the creative director of the Christian Dior maison and “enfant prodige” of fashion allegedly attacked a couple seated on a cafe terrace with anti-Semitic remarks. Suspended from his duties by the Dior maison – well known for its zero tolerance policy against racism – Galliano now awaits his fate in between allegations and counter-allegations. Interesting enough some police sources linked the designer’s behaviour to the pressures of the upcoming fashion week. Could that be true? The rhythms of the already fast fashion industry have somehow been upset by new technological developments and nowadays if you aren’t able to put the new collection online 30 minutes after it has been on the runway you may be missing out on new buyers and customers. So has the time come to slow the machine down a bit and use technology to our advantage, recreating a new kind of fashion industry that focuses on quality rather than quantity and doesn’t drive the designers and fashionistas to madness? Food for thought, food for thought.

By Anna Battista

Image source: Objectsblog

See full show schedule at www.modeaparis.com

Check out images from the shows at Paris Fashion Week as they happen at NOWFASHION.COM