We’ve all heard the story: Fashion Week has changed, almost beyond recognition. From a closed-door, industry-insider event to all-access areas and livestreamed shows, the once exclusive affair is now available for the world to see as it happens. For the next few weeks, your Instagram feed will continue to be flooded with catwalk images, street style snaps, and celebrity-rich front rows.
But for those of us who were on the other side of the doors, it’s hard to imagine exactly what we missed. What did it feel like to see Gareth Pugh’s debut show, knowing you were experiencing something extraordinary, without a cameraphone in your hand? What did it look like for a front row to take in a final walk clapping, instead of Snapchatting? And what did everyone make of influencers as they began stealing those coveted front-row seats?
We spoke to the industry insiders who’ve watched Fashion Week evolve over the last decade to find out.
Mandi Lennard, PR guru and founder of Mandi’s Basement
An industry legend, Lennard has a kaleidoscopic view of Fashion Week's history. She cut her teeth as a buyer for Browns in the early '90s, then went on to set up fashion consultancy company Mandi’s Basement. She remembers a simpler time when a Harrod’s bus transported editors between shows, rather than an Uber.
An industry legend, Lennard has a kaleidoscopic view of Fashion Week's history. She cut her teeth as a buyer for Browns in the early '90s, then went on to set up fashion consultancy company Mandi’s Basement. She remembers a simpler time when a Harrod’s bus transported editors between shows, rather than an Uber.
On the innocence of fashion week before social media...
“We didn’t know what the hell we were doing when we first did shows — thank God there was no social media! But it’s a totally different dynamic and I'm sure I would have loved it and it would have added subliminal layers to the sensory show experience felt by those outside of the show experience, and opened up a new dimension in what goes on backstage. It’s explosive!”
“We didn’t know what the hell we were doing when we first did shows — thank God there was no social media! But it’s a totally different dynamic and I'm sure I would have loved it and it would have added subliminal layers to the sensory show experience felt by those outside of the show experience, and opened up a new dimension in what goes on backstage. It’s explosive!”
On landmark moments that would have exploded had social media existed...
“I often reflect on key moments that would have taken over the world if we’d had social media back then, such as Gareth Pugh bursting onto the scene at Fashion East and his illuminated finale look, when we sent naked models into the British Fashion Council’s office to demonstrate how J Maskrey’s skin jewelry worked, or Vivienne Westwood’s show where Jerry Hall was holding her newborn baby, Georgia May Jagger.”
“I often reflect on key moments that would have taken over the world if we’d had social media back then, such as Gareth Pugh bursting onto the scene at Fashion East and his illuminated finale look, when we sent naked models into the British Fashion Council’s office to demonstrate how J Maskrey’s skin jewelry worked, or Vivienne Westwood’s show where Jerry Hall was holding her newborn baby, Georgia May Jagger.”
On what everyone thought when bloggers arrived...
“It seemed as though it was all over-hyped up, but Susie Lau (a.k.a. Susie Bubble) is so enduring as a fashion commentator that the platform it gave her carved her career path, which is a good thing. She’s a walking, talking poster girl for fashion fabness!”
“It seemed as though it was all over-hyped up, but Susie Lau (a.k.a. Susie Bubble) is so enduring as a fashion commentator that the platform it gave her carved her career path, which is a good thing. She’s a walking, talking poster girl for fashion fabness!”
Susie Lau, founder of Susie Bubble
The godmother of blogging as we know it, Ms. Lau began documenting fashion from her own personal platform before that was even a thing. When social media arrived, her career took off.
The godmother of blogging as we know it, Ms. Lau began documenting fashion from her own personal platform before that was even a thing. When social media arrived, her career took off.
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