Thomas Tait has announced that he will not be presenting his fall/winter 16 collection at London Fashion Week in February, eschewing the catwalk in favor of a private showroom during Paris Fashion Week, open to press and buyers by appointment only.
“It’s a small and strategic decision to take the time I feel my work deserves, and to refocus and redevelop how we actually present the clothes,” Tait told WWD, explaining that, “There is so much work that goes into what I do, and it’s very much part of the brand DNA to really develop something that inside and out is extremely well considered”.
Tait’s decision follows Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s the recent announcement that they have banned all preview images and reviews of their next collection, with the embargo lasting until the styles hit the stores. “Obviously the system doesn’t make so much sense anymore,” McCollough told WWD, explaining that consumers often don’t feel the same excitement about the collection when it hits stores months after its imagery has been released.
Tait explained that his feeling is less about overexposure, and more about the reductive nature of the catwalk format. “So I often feel as if — with a catwalk show — although you have a sort of sensationalized moment, I do tend to leave the experience of the show and feel as if there is so much more we’ve been working on that no one could reasonably pick up on in the moment of the show.” The London Fashion Week schedule also reveals that Christopher Shannon has opted for a static presentation, rather than a runway show, this season.
The length of Tait’s runway hiatus is unknown, though the LVMH Prize-winning designer does admit, “I’d be lying if I said I have no vision of returning to the runway; that’s definitely on the map. It could be in a couple of seasons, it could be in a couple of years. Who knows? But I want to come back with something that will hopefully exemplify my experience over the last few years showing at London Fashion Week and also be a testament to the time that I am taking now to reassess how people interact with the clothes”.
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush
Photography Benjamin Alexander Huseby
Styling Beth Fenton
Hair Federico Ghezzi at CLM
Make-up Thomas De Kluyver at D+V Management using M.A.C.