Fashion Seasons: How does it work and how to plan your own fashion calendar?

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Resort, Pre-Fall, Paris Fashion Week, Milano Fashion Week and so on… There are too many fashion seasons, weeks, and periods although we only have four of them in an annual calendar. Then why are there so many new seasons in the fashion industry and what should you look for when planning your own seasonal collection? Before jumping into details, we should understand how the seasonal concept works.

Fashion Seasons

Fashion calendar year is divided into four seasons. Summer, Spring, Fall, and Winter. In the fashion industry, these are usually divided into two seasons: Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. And these are shown in Paris, Milan, New York and London fashion weeks every year.

The confusion starts when you look at the clothing stores at different times of the year. Actually, the spring/summer season runs from January through June. Fall/Winter begins in July and lasts through December. 

Seasonal apparel does not follow the fashion calendar exactly. When you stroll into a store during the summer, you may see that scarves and sweaters are already on display. As a fashion designer, you should be finalizing and close to getting your Fall/Winter collection by the middle of the Spring/Summer season.

Fashion Weeks

Despite the fact that there are numerous important fashion weeks around the world, only the “Big Four” are known: Paris, Milan, London, and New York. Paris began staging couture shows in 1945, Milan Fashion Week was established in 1958 by the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Paris Fashion Week was expanded in 1973 by the French Fashion Federation, and London Fashion Week was established in 1984 by the British Fashion Council. The major fashion performances are still organized by these significant organizations.

Fashion Week establishes the season’s trends, so collections must be unveiled early. For the following summer, spring summer designs are exhibited to the press at Fashion Week in September, whereas Fall/Winter collections are shown in February for the following winter.

How to plan your collection timeline for fashion seasons

It may seem strange to plan your collection over a year ahead of time, but it is vital to stay on schedule. The major reason you should plan your clothes designs at least a season ahead of time is that manufacturing takes time. 

Before you can finalize your product design and start production, you’ll need time to design, build your collection, send it to your manufacturer, receive your sample, make any necessary revisions, and maybe develop a second sample.

From start to finish, the process can take up to six months. If you submit your Spring designs in January, you’ve already missed your opportunity to sell that collection, leaving you with overstocked items that won’t sell. This is a significant expense for you, since you will struggle to break even at this point.

Set up a design manufacturing timeline to avoid enormous costs and unsold products.

Your fashion design timeline can resemble this:

Remember that after one season closes, you should begin planning the following season’s collection.

Make sure you and your manufacturer are on the same page. If you aren’t specific about dates and/or any changes you want made, you may experience delays, leaving you with late or no products to offer.