Virtual Screenings Will Stay With Us After The Pandemic - And Here's Why

2023 Author: Henry Pass | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 21:12

Discontent with the current state of affairs has long been brewing in fashion. Fashion weeks were a constant target of criticism, and many even called them atavism and a waste of time. Nevertheless, when due to the pandemic, all designers were forced to temporarily look for new formats for presenting collections, the fashion world was gripped by a panic: no one understood how to do this in the rapidly changing realities. But after the first controversial experiences, brands were finally able to navigate and come up with interesting ways to get out of the situation. So interesting that now many do not want to say goodbye to them even after the end of the pandemic. We understand why virtual screenings may well become a part of our life now forever.

It's comfortable

Yes, that's so commonplace. A virtual presentation does not require long preparations and gathering many guests from all over the world. It can be designed as a simple lookbook or a mini-film that requires minimal time and money. Most brands have done just that - even in Milan and Paris, where physical events were already allowed at last Fashion Week.

It is cost effective

The second point directly follows from the first point: it is very economical. In the past, brands have spent fortunes on spectacular physical shows. For the sake of a 20-minute show, entire cities were sometimes erected from scenery. Plus, do not forget about the costs of models, makeup artists, hair stylists and influencers who need to be brought in, lodged in a hotel and also give them gifts. Remote format radically solves all these problems. It's still relatively inexpensive to shoot a video or lookbook under these conditions. And even if the brand has to host a private event for journalists and influencers, as Prada and Miu Miu did this season, you at least don't have to take anyone out of their hometown.

It's environmentally friendly

This item will especially delight the followers of Greta Thunberg. Yes, on top of everything else, physical displays have often been the target of criticism because of the harm they cause to nature. Judge for yourself: disposable decorations, paper invitations and thousands of people who fly long distances on airplanes to watch shows that will never happen again. The virtual format also solves this problem: now all the "guests" are watching what is happening from the screens of their devices, which means that the air will be freed from excess carbon dioxide emissions, and tons of paper will not go to landfills.

It's democratic

Since the trend towards inclusiveness is the most visible trend in recent times in fashion, there have been more and more voices lately that shows and closed presentations at Fashion Weeks are stalling progress and pulling back fashion back to the days when it was the preserve of the rich and famous. Social justice activists can rejoice: their voices have been heard. The coronavirus has leveled everyone. Now the top editors of the key gloss, bloggers and celebrities of the first magnitude see fresh collections at the same moment and in the same ways as simple fashion enthusiasts. No one else has the exclusive right to be the first to get access to new products - thanks to live broadcasts, millions of network users around the world receive all information firsthand.

It stimulates creativity

Yes, don't be surprised. Complexity is often the catalyst for important change. While some panic, others are looking for ways out of this situation. And they find it - in the form of fundamentally new formats of interaction with the audience. And if the first experiments basically came out lumpy (this year's autumn-winter couture week in Paris passed almost unnoticed), then in the last season all leading players presented their versions of new shows and presentations. Prada and Miu Miu held quite traditional shows, but without spectators: they watched them in their hometowns, Nina Ricci showed a whole mood board on a smartphone screen, Jeremy Scott made a puppet show for Moschino, well, and Jonathan Anderson went further than anyone else and came up with Loewe "show on the wall" - the new lookbook has been printed on full size wallpaper. And who after that will say,that remote screenings are boring?