Givenchy announced last week an ticket giveaway for anyone interested in attending the label’s first New York Fashion show runway to be held the evening of September 11th. Each lucky winner received an automatic plus one for a total of 820 seats. Whelp, we threw our hats in the ring, and while we were informed today we didn’t win, eh, c’est la vie that’s okay (and how charming was rejection??), we still adore Riccardo Tisci and his approach to fashion. Even as the head designer for a European couture brand owned by none other than corporate titan LVMH, Tisci has always been one of the good guys known for his appreciation of diversity and had worked with people like Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Rihanna and others long before it was cool (and was actually attacked and lambasted for doing so in the early days).
Burberry did something along the same lines in 2010, inviting members of the press and industry to a global screening of the Autumn presentation. We attended that event but remember that in general the more elite members of the fashion press were ticked off by the concept. How horrible, even more fashion press allowed to cover the show!
We get it, not everything can be for everyone, it would create a shit show, but people like Kanye West and young designers like Tisci and Balmain designer, Olivier Rousteing, are leading the way in re-engineering the concept of exclusivity in a way that’s modern and feels a lot more inclusive and also fun. It’s not perfect, but it’s literally a 100 times better than the old system, which was blatantly racist, classicist and because the talent pool was so small, not necessarily bursting with great talent. Times have changed, yes, but the tearing down of the gates has almost entirely been for the better.
