If you have ever tried to wrap your head around the confusing world of fashion, one thing that might have stumped you is how the year is divided according to designer brands. The world of fashion, like many other prominent and growing industries, is mainly concerned with maximizing sales and a continuous stream of revenue.

The Four Seasons

There are two main seasons on every fashionista’s calendar – Spring/Summer & Fall/Winter. The calendar can be broken down even further to include Resort Wear and Pre-Fall. The Spring/Summer season begins in January and ends around June. This is the time where fashion houses debut their newest collections for the warm, sunny days. Hats, thin fabrics, shorts, and open garments are usually the norm during the first six months of the year. Starting in July, the long-awaited Fall/Winter season begins. Fur and thick fabrics dominate this season. On the runway, these two seasons are times when creative directors and fashion powerhouses get to display their creative geniuses for moving art. Both Resort Wear and Pre-Fall collections are introduced between the two major seasons. Resort Wear is most similar to Spring/Fall and occurs from October to December. Pre-Fall is the exact opposite. This showing is a precursor to the Fall/Winter shows, the clothing from Pre-Fall hits the stores right before the Fall/Winter items.

Resort Wear?

You may be asking yourself what exactly Resort Wear is and why it gets its own season. During the beginning of the fashion industry, Resort Wear was introduced to cater to the uber rich, those that could take a vacation to far off, exotic islands during the cold, dark winter months. This is why the season happens during the fall. Retailers and manufacturers need enough time to mass-produce the clothing shown on the runway to sell it at stores before people come to buy them for their sunny trips.

Fashion Week

Everyone has heard of the term “fashion week”.  However, what is it exactly? There are four main fashion capitals around the world – New York City, London, Paris, and Milan. These four cities are considered “fashion capitals” due to the vast amount of designers, brands, and industry powerhouses that have made their mark in these various locations. With time, more cities around the world have also gained recognition in the fashion industry – Seoul, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. Each main fashion capital – New York City, London, Paris, and Milan – have a week within a specific month where brands from that respective city showcase their newest collections for the four different seasons. Fall/Winter fashion week is held throughout the months of January and February, while the Spring/Summer fashion week is in September. As you can imagine these months are especially stressful for designers, models, critics, photographers, and fashion business leaders. Resort Wear and Pre-Fall do not necessarily have their own “week,” but brands can either choose to run a campaign debuting their new collection or hold special events introducing the collections. Resort Wear is usually released near June and Pre-Fall collection in December.  Each season begins in New York, then London and Milan, and finally ends in Paris, which is considered the home and birthplace of high fashion. According to Candice Chua at Yoyokulala Magazine, fashion week “is a twice-yearly affair where industry people from all over the world come together to see what the designers have planned for the coming season. It is also an opportunity for different parts of the industry to meet, whether for business meetings or just a good ol’ catch-up sesh because everyone’s together in one city.”