The Amsterdam fashion museum Fashion for Good is showing an exhibition called “Fashion Week: A New Era” from May 20th. The museum, which specializes in sustainable fashion, thus addresses the role of fashion shows and how they contribute to the general cycle of fashion.
According to Fashion for Good, 60 percent more clothes are being bought today than 15 years ago – even though each item is kept for half as long. More than half of all clothing produced annually is incinerated or thrown away, the museum writes in a statement. The exhibition addresses the question of how the fashion weeks contribute to this development, whether the shows are still up to date and what the future might look like.
Is the end of fashion weeks in sight?
In recent years there has been increasing skepticism about the need for fashion weeks – accelerated by the circumstances of the pandemic, even large, traditional fashion houses are exploring alternatives to the traveling exhibitions that leave an immense environmental footprint. The drivers of new developments include Vivienne Westwood, Katharine Hamnett and Dries van Noten.
Fashion Week: A New Era looks at the past, present and future of the traditional fashion cycle and presentations. Visitors can get a multifaceted look at the dynamics of fashion week – from the early days of New York fashion week, to looks that made history, to the creative alternatives to traditional collection presentations that have emerged in recent years.
Part of the exhibition focuses on the digital possibilities of fashion. Among other things, the museum is showing a digital fashion show that shows sustainable looks from the Lakmé Fashion Week in India. The looks are the result of collaborations between fashion designers and up-and-coming start-ups who have set themselves the goal of rethinking the fashion world digitally.
Fashion for Good opened in October 2018. The exhibitions and projects of the interactive museum are geared towards the future of fashion – and thus towards sustainability. The museum also acts as an innovation platform, developing innovative solutions and new technologies together with start-ups in the clothing sector.
The exhibition is accessible until October 2022.