With many brands from Gucci to Michael Kors to Saint Laurent announcing that they will be sitting out of the usual Fashion Week calendar in the aftermath of the coronavirus, it is only natural that many are questioning the future of Fashion Week.

Plus, are fashion extravaganzas still relevant in these extraordinary times we’re living in, and isn’t it pertinent that the fashion industry uses this opportunity to hit reset and realign the seasonal flow of goods and selling season, some would ask?

Burberry answered those questions with the announcement that it will be staging a live fashion show for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2021 season on Sep 17. The show will be held in a yet-to-be-disclosed outdoor location in Britain – but if the publicity image of foaming white surf and rocky coastline are anything to go by, our bets would be somewhere coastal. Hmmm, Cornwall perhaps?

Riccardo Tisci

The carbon-neutral show will feature only models sans any guests – a sign that the fears of a new virus wave is still very real – and will be telecast live for all to watch. On why the show must go on for Burberry, its chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci revealed in a statement that it is a way for the industry to “reconnect again”.

He further explained the importance of putting on a show to trade rag WWD. “Ultimately, to me, it will always be important to keep a physicality to fashion, to be able to see and understand the texture and movements of clothes, but in new ways,” he said.