The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul (MBFWI) is moving entirely to digital platforms for its 15th season this year. The event will take place on October 12-16 with the support of the Turkey Promotion Group (TTG).
According to MBFWI, the digitalisation process had begun before the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, and thus was not a direct result of Covid-19. In November 2019, a conference bringing together Turkish fashion stakeholders had collectively reached the decision that the fashion week would move online, and that work had already begun towards achieving this end.
Fashion Designers Association co-chair Ozlem Kaya says “There were advantages and disadvantages to having no audience. Yet all crews worked meticulously and very hard, taking all precautions for hygiene and completing shoots without any problems.”
Digital fashion weeks are also on the radar of other world fashion weeks, from London to Shanghai. The fashion industry has been discussing possible changes for a long time and today’s conditions are giving it yet another reason to consider making alterations to previous traditions.
According to press materials, “MBFWI will provide a creative season-free platform where the in-season collections will be presented to the end consumer, along with Spring-Summer 2021 and Fall-Winter 2020/21 collections… and will also open its doors to designer labels and designers that wish to present designs for different seasons within the same collection.”
