Paris fashion eco-system on edge as shows disappear
It will be a quiet Paris Fashion Week this year for model Tiffany Fournier, who is used to walking in five runway shows each season.
She says it's a big change, explaining she's used to doing lots of shows during fashion week, but hasn't done a runway show since February.
A whole chain of businesses normally working overtime at the peak of fashion season is being upended, after the global crisis forced many luxury labels to cancel events.
Even as some of the world's biggest brands tentatively return to the catwalk in Paris from next week, most designers are still abstaining from physical shows.
It's a blow for make-up artists, lighting specialists and caterers alike.
For a nine-day period from Monday (September 28), 85 brands are due to showcase womenswear looks as part of Paris Fashion Week, normally one of several fixtures estimated to generate over 1 billion US dollars in annual revenues for the city.
Only 19 are hosting actual shows, with the richest and most emblematic French labels such as Chanel and Christian Dior among those pressing ahead, with socially-distanced front rows.
Others are holding small presentations by appointment, or streaming videos.
Parties of over 300 people are a no-no, and even smaller events are becoming complicated as the French government brings in fresh restrictions.
But designers and brands alike are anxious to retain a link with their audience of professional buyers and media critics.
Alexandre Mattiussi, creator of French brand AMI, says there are some upsides to limiting the numbers at shows.
"The audience will be I feel, I hope, much more relaxed in a way, and because you have the distancing, with the 1 meter between everyone, it's going to be kind of like a very nice wedding."
AMI is set to hold a show on October 3rd, with under 150 guests rather than the usual 600 to 700.
