French luxury brand Dior for fashion, fragrances, and accessories for women and men had made a statement that it would continue with scheduled fashion shows for this year starting with an Italian Catwalk displaying but without a front-row audience of A-listers.
It will premiere a mid-season “cruise” range in the Italian city of Lecce on July 22 with a streamed live show, Chief Executive Pietro Beccari said, after a presentation planned for May was postponed.
“We would like to send a message of support, of hope, of optimism and of rebirth,” Beccari said. “I`m thinking about big suppliers but also the small ones, many tiny family businesses of artisans in France and in Italy … many of them didn`t know and still do not know how to survive.”
High-end brands often rely on firms to manufacture luxurious cloth or products that require special treatment, such as items covered in feathers or tinted by hand.
Dior planned to go ahead with a womenswear fashion show usually held in Paris in September, Beccari said, adding that by then it might even bring in a front-row audience.
“Fashion week is important not only for the fashion family but it`s also important for the city where the shows are,” Dior`s designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said.
