Do we need fashion shows?
With today’s technology, anyone interested in clothes can command a number of ways to take a look at what’s new through the convenience of a phone screen. So why then do we still need fashion shows?
For industry professionals like designers, retailers and marketers, a fashion show is an integral component of the business. For everyone else “outside” fashion, a fashion show is just…a fashion show. Or is it?
In her book The Fashion Show: history, theory and practice, author, academic, and designer Gill Stark described fashion shows to be “deeply embedded within the traditions of the fashion industry.” It is a powerful marketing tool that fosters consumer engagement and participation.
Stark said that a fashion show is contradictory and fleeting. Most fashion shows are elitist with invitations and experiences often only limited to affluent circles; but today’s technology is consistent in breaking down these barriers, not only providing a glimpse of the fashion show experience to the public but also involving participation in the creative process.
Earlier this month, Ryniel Pineda, the Butuan-based dancing security guard in Tiktok with over 1.1 million followers, was gyrating to Bonde Das Oncinhas in the official account of Jacquemus, a luxury French fashion brand. The featured content went live as part of the efforts of the label to promote the fashion show LA CROISIÈRE that debuts the Spring-Summer 2025 collection. The entire 10-minute fashion show, which was shot on an iPhone in portrait, can be viewed in the social media pages of Jacquemus.
Stark wrote that fashion shows are transient events. There is much anticipation that builds up to an event put up by many people who clock in hundreds of hours and use inordinate resources. All of this culminates in a show that runs for an hour or less.
The defining elements of fashion shows are referred to as moments, often revealed in the runway, experienced by attendees, or captured by cameras. These moments vary: some to celebrate newness, innovations, and creativity; others to showcase a radical vision or to disrupt the status quo.
A show of what’s new, usually
Lookbook, the annual fashion show by Ayala Malls Abreeza and the Davao Fashion Design Council conjured up moments unique to this side of the country last January 25. There were local interpretations of Mocha Mousse (Pantone Color of the Year 2025) and an assemblage of looks from global brands.
“Fashion, as a business, still relies on showcases and entertainment to communicate its message to the intended audience or target market. For brands, fashion shows act as a live window display, highlighting the looks they want to entice consumers to buy,” said Emi Alexander Englis, fashion educator and designer who sits as the president of the Davao Fashion and Design Council (DFDC). “For DFDC, fashion shows allow us to share with the Davao community the excitement and energy of fashion being alive and thriving in this part of the world,” he said.
A fashion show can also be a medium to showcase personal style and already existing clothes. The community fashion show of the sustainable fashion campaign that I organize annually with the Global Shapers Davao Hub (Unstitch: Sustainable Fashion Forum) reimagined fashion that is centered on citizenry and away from common consumption tropes and big brands. Blogging groups based in Davao City participated on the runway to show how they enjoy fashion through an ukay-ukay challenge or by wearing clothes that they already have.
A cultural structure and a host of messages
A fashion show’s power beyond marketing intentions is also a cultural structure worth examining.
Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW), the biggest fashion week in Northern Europe puts sustainability as a core focus and has set standards for shows. CPHFW is regarded as the fifth global fashion week (next to the big four New York, London, Milan, and Paris) and it operates with standards to cover environment and social considerations. Brands seeking to showcase their collections in CPHFW need to adhere to elaborate requirements such as focusing on smart material choices, engaging consumers with sustainability practices, setting criteria to ensure product longevity, and operating with safe work environments.
Brands also need to comply with product showcase standards such as making sure that production does not use single-use props or packaging and waste management follows Danish waste sorting requirements. The efforts that surround CPHFW create a significant dent in the global fashion system where overproduction and waste often perpetuate.
Creating a sense of appreciation of clothes is valid and so is creating and peddling the messages that the clothing bears. There are many ways that a fashion show can communicate important messages, whether creative, radical, inspiring, innovative, or subversive.
Hope Militante Fernandez, the peace worker behind Humanitarian Organization for Peace Engagements (HOPE) has used the power of a fashion show to channel attention and resources to a marginalized sector. In 2024, she and her partners mounted a “catwalk for a cause” to benefit children with disabilities.
The Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI) also peddled a message about science in the September 2024 Stellar Fashion Gala at Discovery Samal. Dr. Julius L. Leaño Jr., DOST PTRI director, shared that science has a lot to do with advancing the innovations in fashion.
“The Philippine tropical fabrics (PTFs) that we see are stories of people and communities and there has to be a scientific approach to provide a solid foundation for the creative industry,” he said in this Mindanews interview on the sidelines of the show.
In the same conversation, the director said that DOST-PTRI supports Mindanao in its participation in fashion production. Currently, DOST-PTRI supports yarn production in Kabacan, North Cotabato; cotton from Sarangani; and silk in select hubs in Northern Mindanao that are strategic to supply chain integration. The Davao Region, furthermore, is poised to be a major contributor of bamboo and banana fibers for textiles after a DOST-PTRI and DFDC partnership to promote homegrown sustainable fashion that highlights PTFs and local weaving.
Fashion and self-actualization
Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of Needs shows a need to belong socially. Stark said that fashion is a vehicle for social connection.
“By watching the shows of brands they associate with, consumers have a greater sense of shared experience and enjoyment, a sense of connection and belonging within that community,” she wrote.
A fashion show also goes as far as fulfilling psychological needs, when it strikes the right chord. Stark said that by watching a stimulating show (and commenting about it through social media and consuming products), a consumer is “assured of fulfilling their needs for esteem and self-actualization.”
Although a fashion show is not directly helping solve our problems on traffic, flooding, and dengue (or maybe it will with DOST-PTRI’s controlled-release mosquito repellent fabrics), it plays its part in giving us a glimpse into a global conversation about our relationship with a basic need (clothing) and the spirit of the times (zeitgeist). Simply put: a fashion show helps us to put things into perspective and shares an important clothing conversation that we rarely have.
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Jesse Pizarro Boga (Jesse Boga Madriaga) likes to talk about fashion but is too lazy to dress up on most days. Follow him @thegamejay on Instagram.
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