If there’s one thing you can count on for 2018, it’s that the fashion calendar shake-ups will continue. Ellery is the latest in a string of brands to change up its production and presentation schedules for the coming year.
Starting in January 2018, Ellery will design two main collections per year that will be shown in four installations: The first half of each season will bow at Paris’s couture weeks in January and July, and the second half will be released at Paris’s ready-to-wear Fashion Weeks in March and October. Wholesale buyers will be able to see the collection in its entirety and place orders during the couture shows. According to founder and creative director Kym Ellery, the decision will not only better suit her business, allowing for Ellery’s products to deliver earlier in stores and remain on sale longer before markdowns, but will also benefit the design process.
“Ultimately, the benefit of this new business model is to create time; time to design, innovate, and produce designer product,” Ellery told Vogue over email. “Our aim is to give the garments and the artisans the respect that they deserve. The significant time that it takes to create a collection should be reflected in the subsequent weeks and months that the garments spend on the shop floor before being marked down. In order to do this we must change the schedule of the industry—sell earlier, then deliver earlier.”
Ellery is not the first brand to shift its presentations to the couture schedule to allow for earlier deliveries and thus more time on the sales floor before markdowns. In 2016, Vetements began showing ready-to-wear during the couture shows in Paris, with Proenza Schouler, and Rodarte joining in July of 2017. (Vetements skipped a show in favor of a lookbook for Spring 2018 and has vowed to present its Fall 2018 collection on the runway during the men’s shows in Paris this January.)
Ellery, however, will be the first to divide its two main collections into four press presentations. That decision, the designer says, was influenced by the constant stream of information available on social media. She told Vogue, “We acknowledge that in this digital world audiences enjoy frequent newness, which is why we will be staggering the release of our collections to continue to be four times per year whilst we deliver product monthly in store.”
As for what to expect from the brand’s first show on its new schedule in January, Ellery says the collection will be couture-grade and celebrate French savoir-faire. “In January 2018 we will be showcasing the very first Ellery couture collection with garments that have been realized in our new Paris atelier utilizing the expertise of French artisans, as well as chapter one of our Fall ’18 prêt-à-porter collection,” she said. “This show is going to be an exciting moment for both me personally and for the brand. I believe that the spirit of couture is a part of Ellery’s past and will also be a big a part of the brand’s future.”