Sink or Swim? The Future of Fashion’s Cruise Collections

By Amy Nguyen, Founder & Editor of Sustainable & Social

Sandy shores and sultry sunsets in foreign isles seem like a distant memory. Fashion’s cruise collections speak to what feels like an unfamiliar pastime, as resort season saw its hand forced into ‘staycation mode’ in the wake of the global pandemic. 

As we enter the climate decade, with rising temperatures and predictions that we’ll miss key global environmental targets, one must question how sustainable are the industry’s holiday collections? Their production is a sprinkle of gratuitous glamour in a time where sweatpants and sportswear come with far more utility. Is the lavish production of cruise collections to an empty venue furthering fashion’s sustainability narrative? No. We weigh in on the waning relevance of cruise collections, their digitalisation and how they have subsequently been translated by leading fashion houses for the 2021 season. 

Cruise collections are infamous as the resort and holiday extensions of fashion houses. Their existence creates added brand value and they are traditionally showcased in a lavish, exotic location in between the main ready to wear seasons of S/S and A/W. What once began in the 1920s as a mini capsule wardrobe for those looking to catch some winter sun or revel in a quick getaway have snowballed into a whole new life form.

It’s no news that the fashion industry is already saturated with unnecessary shows. This notion is however being reformed in the post pandemic world as international travel comes to a grinding halt and social distancing rules destroy front row seating etiquette. 

The environmental imprint of fashion months have fallen under much scrutiny in recent years. Even with copious data from myriad sources, calculating a ball park figure is nigh on impossible. We can combine the direct costs of flights, supply chains, production resources and so forth but the indirect effects of pushing continuous seasons on to consumers and industry influencers are arduously difficult to measure accurately. 

According to Ordre, a luxury virtual showroom platform, fashion buyers and designers alone contribute to 241,000 tons of carbon emissions a year by attending fashion weeks in New York, London, Paris and Milan. This equates to more than the total emissions of a small country such as Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Keen to adapt, the fashion industry has embraced the digital landscape to deliver collections to their audiences and customers. This was the case for the inaugural digital and genderless London Fashion Week, but continued into the 2021 Cruise collections.

Commentators make the case that, despite the sector’s best efforts, the magic of real life productions are lost through screen. 

Digitalisation of cruise collections as seen in this summer’s 2021 showcases, do not automatically hold a synergy to sustainable principles. It’s not a tick box that demonstrates authentic commitment to reducing the effect on land or biodiversity. With digitalisation comes an army of IT equipment, developers and data analysts who require significant power generation. It may come as a surprise to you that the IT sector is responsible for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent to the aviation industry. 

Upon closer inspection, the new virtual infrastructure of the fashion industry comes at a significant cost to the environment. The annual Chanel cruise collection was set to be a ‘can’t miss’, as it was the inaugural travelling show for creative director Virginie Viard. Organisers cancelled the trip of thousands to Capri in May due to lockdown restrictions and instead moved online. Whilst Viard’s holiday pieces land in-store in November, it begs the question, will anyone be able to travel for some winter sun in their new Chanel attire in this pandemic world?   

Similarly, Dior staged their presentation in the Italian capital of baroque, Lecce, embodying the theme of Dolce Vita. The show, almost didn’t happen given Italy’s struggle with the virus and when it did, despite the magnificence, was staged at the venue to an almost empty audience. This sparks the conversation about waste, and how destination events (which are merely to be screened to those at a distance) seem excessive. 

Across the board, the allure of holiday and resort edits appear lack lustre. Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquiere drew inspiration from the holiday essential, a pack of cards. Garments photographed in offices and bedrooms translate to the bland and mundane experience of lockdown and pained experience of cancelled holidays. 

Ricardo Tisci at Burberry turned the restrictions on travel into an advantage and opportunity to reinforce the iconicity of British heritage. The collection was photographed and previewed on company employees outside their own homes throughout the UK.  Such decisions have a benefit on the company’s overall sustainability narrative and reduce their overall carbon footprint. 

Finally, now synonymous with seasonless, Gucci’s Alessandro Michele announced his 2021 collection as the ‘epilogue’ and final act of the fairy tale. This speaks to the future of fashion and the role of leading conglomerates such as Kering Group and LVMH who are now taking responsibility to promote the reduction in volume of collections.  

As the world continues to grapple with the initial fall out from COVID-19, the future of fashion’s cruise collections seems dubious. Despite digitalisation to create and share garments that belong in paradise, commentators project the notion that it may not be worth throwing them a life line.

As the race to carbon neutrality continues, there’s no denying we’ll need the edit of summer clothes more than ever before. However, the excess and waste involved offer little added value for the end customer. Purchases may not be able to travel by the time these collections are available in stores and this speaks magnitudes to their status as redundant and obsolete. In my mind, it seems continuing with cruise collections is like arranging the deck chairs on the very unsustainable fashion Titanic.