What is the Calendar for Fashion Seasons?

[kashacin]

I'm not a buyer so I'm not 100% sure which months are given to which seasons. For instance, Feb, Mar, & April may be for Spring but what about Spring 1 and Spring 2?

I guess it also depends on the main product and region?

But let's say its an apparel brand that sells in a climate that experiences all seasons (northeast of the United States, for example). How are the seasons normally split up?

Winter I?
Winter II?
Spring I?
Spring II?
... and so forth?

Thanks in advance!

 

[BetteT]

I can only partially answer your question. I'm not clear if you are interested in when you see the lines in the actual stores or if you need to know when the orders can be taken. And then, there are increasingly more "seasons" lately ... it seems to me. Such as "pre-fall", "resort" and so on ... and I'm not well versed on that.

For introducing lines to buyers for the stores, Spring/Summer lines are shown on the Fashion Week Runways starting the September the prior year. The Fall/Winter lines start to show in January/ February. "Resort" is right now. It's at least 6 months prior to the actual season ... time to manufacture and deliver the inventory to the retailers.

Or are you just asking about various markets ... and when the retailers have the lines in their stores? That ... I don't know.

Here's what I've noticed where I live ... in a desert resort town (Palm Springs) where the weather is different that other places I've lived. (Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Toronto). It seems to me that the local department stores feature summer clothing all year, winter and summer, but in the winter it's along side of the current season stuff ... like coats and some woolens, but just lighter ones. So, here, it's a mixed bag. I think the buyers know how to cater to the resort crowd and the desert climate (which is warm during the day and pretty chilly, even below freezing occasionally, at night ... in the winter). I don't really know what the call each "season" .... since I'm not in retail.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Just based on what I've seen in stores and on websites this is what I believe it is.

Spring/Summer - January-May. Usually the collections will go on clearance in June to make room for Fall. Resort might be sold alongside S/S until inventory runs out or based on how salable the S/S collection is.

Pre-Fall - May-July and early August. Pre-Fall will start appearing in May and go until the Fall collections begin to be featured. May be sold alongside F/W

Fall/Winter July-Decmeber Depending on the magazine some will begin to feature Fall in the July issues. Some stores may carry it towards the end of July and sometimes sooner. Expect to see Pre-Fall mixed in.

Resort- November-? Resort will officially hit the shelves and magazines in November. It may be on sale alongside Spring depending on the collections and maybe even further if it's a hit.

 

[Melancholybaby]

BetteT and GivenchyHomme have done a great job of explaining how fashion seasons work. I can provide a bit of insight from the luxury retail perspective, but I can only speak for the brand I work for. As previously mentioned, the S/S runway collection is present in September-October, and F/W in February-March. Buyers and store directors sometimes attend the show, but always visit the showroom, which has more items available that were not shown on the runway, and put in the order for next season based on what sizes, styles, categories have been popular in the past year. For the brand I work for S/S runway arrives in stores in late February/early March and stays on sale until the summer sale in July. F/W starts arriving in late August/early September and stays on until the winter sale in January. VIP clients' orders from the runway shows arrive a bit earlier but they are kept hidden until the client comes in or they are dispatched directly to the client. Resort arrives in stores in November and Pre-Fall in May and they are the ones that stay on sale for the longest period of time, they take up more shopfloor space as they are usually more easily sellable and approachable.

So in terms of retail seasons we are currently in Pre-fall 2018, whereas in fashion seasons we are seeing Resort 2019, which will be available in November. Hope this helps a bit.