Summer is almost over and holiday messages are going offline in offices and design studios from Paris to Milan. After a few weeks in which investors and traders were in the spotlight, from now on it will be the red carpets and catwalks. This week alone we will see major events on three continents:
The Venice Film Festival opens on August 31. The calendar is packed with filmmakers hoping to launch their Oscar campaigns, and red carpet fashion is a tried-and-true way to build early buzz. The modern standard was set by Lady Gaga’s dramatic speedboat arrival in a Jonathan Simkhai bustier in 2018 to promote “A Star Is Born,” then walked the carpet in Valentino couture (the film won just one of eight Oscars for which it was nominated, but the dress was a turning point for the Italian luxury brand). This year, if any movie is likely to produce a major moment, it’s Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All,” starring fashion icons Timothee Chalamet and Chloe Sevigny.
Rakuten Fashion Week is phygital again. The Japanese fashion industry’s premier event kicks off on August 29 and runs through September 3 in Tokyo. For the second season in a row, the show includes a roughly 50-50 mix of physical (27) and digital (22) shows, reflecting the country’s more cautious approach to handling covid (Japan still restricts the movements of foreign tourists, although business travel rules are looser and most national pandemic restrictions have been lifted). Tokyo fashion week has never drawn a consistent global crowd, with top Japanese designers often walking in Paris (in the newly released Paris Fashion Week schedule, the full Japanese contingent returns for the first time since). the pandemic, including Undercover, Junya Watanabe, Noir Kei Ninomiya and Issey Miyake, the brand’s first show since the designer’s passing earlier this month).
Serena Williams’ grand finale. The US Open tennis tournament begins on August 29. The ties between tennis and fashion date back nearly a century, but have deepened in recent years as stars have become more daring in what they wear on the court and more entrepreneurial off it. Serena Williams, a pioneer in both respects, made a revealing choice Fashion to announce his retirement instead of the sports press. If he makes it to the final, he could play Naomi Osaka, the 2020 champion and collaborator with Levi’s, Louis Vuitton and other brands. On the men’s side, Roger Federer, a fashion mogul thanks to his involvement with On and a blockbuster deal with Uniqlo, will sit out the tournament as he recovers from a knee injury. Like Williams, he, too, is nearing retirement and has cemented his status in the fashion world, whether he picks up a racket again or not.
What to see this week
Sunday
MTV’s Video Music Awards air at 8 p.m. ET
Monday
US Open tennis tournament begins
Rakuten Fashion Week opens in Tokyo. It runs until September 3.
Wednesday
The Venice Film Festival begins, which will run until September 10.
Michelle Bachelet’s term as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ends; she has said that she wants to release a long overdue report on China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities by this date.
Eurozone inflation data for August released
Thursday
Launch of Kate Moss’ wellness brand COSMOSS.
Lululemon reports quarterly results
Friday
Frieze Seoul, the organization’s first art fair in Asia, kicks off in conjunction with the Kiaf Seoul contemporary art exhibition.
Unemployment data published in the United States for August
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Source: www.businessoffashion.com