Do Fashion Weeks Still Have A Purpose?

Fashion shows ain’t what they used to be. In 1918, Paris’s couture houses began holding their shows on fixed dates twice a year, laying the foundation for what would become today’s fashion weeks. A lot has changed in the intervening century, including the shows themselves. In the heydays of haute couture, they were presentations for a room of potential customers and a few others. Now they’re marketing spectacles aimed at mass audiences. Hundreds of thousands now attend fashion week shows, and millions more stream them online. Those viewing numbers alone would suggest that fashion weeks still serve a clear purpose: to grab the attention of as many people as possible. After all, more visibility leads to more sales, right? Read more at Quartz.