You can add Tom Ford to the list of fashion brands looking to revolutionize the runway model. Following in Burberry’s footsteps, the American designer announced that his next show will be a fall 2016 presentation in September. Showing womenswear and menswear together, Ford will unveil collections that can be purchased immediately.
Related: Burberry Courts Customers, Runway Shows to Unveil Buy It Now Collections
Talking to WWD about the change in schedule, Ford shared, “In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to consumers is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense. We have been living with a fashion calendar and system that is from another era.”
The 54 year-old designer continued, “Our customers today want a collection that is immediately available. Fashion shows and the traditional fashion calendar, as we know them, no longer work in the way that they once did. We spend an enormous amount of money and energy to stage an event that creates excitement too far in advance of when the collection is available to the consumer.”
Putting consumers first, Ford explained, “Showing the collection as it arrives in stores will remedy this, and allow the excitement that is created by a show or event to drive sales and satisfy our customers’ increasing desire to have their clothes as they are ready to wear them.”