Creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have announced Proenza Schouler’s upcoming autumn/winter 17 show will be the last they host in New York, where they have shown since the label’s 2002 inception. Resort 2018 and Spring 2018 will now be presented in Paris, coinciding with the Couture shows. There’s no word on whether they’ll settle in France, or decamp elsewhere for following seasons.
“This shift in strategy will ensure that Proenza Schouler’s runway collection, including both ready-to-wear and accessories, will be the focus of buys and deliver to stores earlier, thus giving them a longer life at retail,” the brand said in a release. Besides extending shelf-life, they also hope the new timing will draw buyer’s attention away from their pre-collections and back to their mainline. “Currently, a large percentage of the brand’s sales are placed during the pre-collection market with the smaller balance going to the runway delivery,” they explained, “which, in truth, is the heart and soul of the Proenza Schouler brand.”
Last week Rodarte made a similar move to Jack and Lazaro, announcing they too would take autumn/winter 17 to Paris, and align all future presentations with the Parisian Couture week schedule. Their aim was similar: “we want to feed our product into the marketplace on an earlier delivery schedule,” Mullevery told Business of Fashion.
It’s fair to say the fashion world’s baby steps toward see-now-buy-now collections have turned into an all-out bolt.
Credits
Photography Jason Lloyd Evans