On day one, Diro started the week by drafting in the Italian director Matteo Garrone films Gomorrah and Dogman to immortalise its haute couture collection. (Source: Dior/Youtube)

After cancelling their July shows for menswear and haute couture, the French Fashion Federation has organised the fashion week online. Luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior and Hermes are all set to show their new fall-winter couture collections online this week, with pre-recorded audio and live streaming shows. On Day One, Dior started the week by bringing in Italian director Matteo Garrone, known for his films Gomorrah and Dogman, for its haute couture collection.

“The federation decided this spring that because of social distancing guidelines, Paris Fashion Week — famed for its 25-centimeter (9-inches)-a-bottom seating allowances — would skip in-person shows for a season, and return to normal, or, at least a new normal, in September, barring a second wave. Chanel is live-streaming its couture show Tuesday after piloting such an approach in its Cruise collection in June. Hermes is presenting its show as a digital “experience” on two separate days, one streamed live and the second time as a video replay,” said reports in AP.

The Dior show grabbed a lot of eyeballs. One of the comments on the video was about how the show didn’t have any black person on it, while the New York Times’ Elizabeth Paton tweeted wryly, “Not very diverse casting with the exception of the man-goats.

Model Naomi Campbell opened the fashion week with a video call. Wearing a t-shirt with the slogan, ‘Phenomenally Black’, she said, “It is up to us and you to start enforcing the inclusion of the multitude of identities that compose our countries. The fight for equality and diversity has been a long fight in society and in the fashion industry.”