Coronavirus leads to further cancellations and postponements of international events

By

Céline VAUTARD

Published
Mar 30, 2020

The list of postponed and cancelled events around the world is getting longer every week. Following the blow that was the cancellation of Paris Fashion Week Men's Spring/Summer 2021, scheduled to take place from 23 to 28 June, and of Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2020-21, planned for 5 to 9 July 2020, a number of other events have now been forced to change their dates due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

The eighth edition of Monte-Carlo Fashion Week, for example, was supposed to run from 14 to 18 May and boasted a programme including an exclusive runway show from Florentine fashion house Ermanno Scervino. The event, which sees stars from all over the world descend on the Principality of Monaco, has been pushed back to a later date. 

The same decision has been made concerning the 1.618 Biennale, which celebrates sustainable living in the company of a range of fashion, beauty and déco brands. Initially scheduled to take place between 5 and 7 June at Paris' Carreau du Temple, the Biennale's organisers have decided to host the event at an as yet unspecified later date. 

Finally, Marseille-based Maison Mode Méditerranée (MMM) is still determined to continue with the OpenMyMed Prize 2020/21, but is introducing a new format. "More than ever, our chosen young fashion brands need to be listened to and reassured, and we came up with solutions before containment measures were put in place," the institution explained. First introduced by MMM in 2015, distance coaching allows experts to continue to support this edition's 13 chosen designers, who are spread over nine different countries. As for the second part of the competition, which was initially supposed to bring all the designers together in Marseille in June 2020, the event has been postponed until this autumn. 

Looking to a different sector, the 59th edition of the largest furniture fair in the world, the Milan Furniture Fair, which was scheduled for this April, will ultimately not take place. The fair's organisers had initially decided to postpone the event until June, but in a release published on Friday 27 March, the show's board of directors instead invited design fans and professionals to come to an event held from 13 to 18 April 2021, when the iconic fair will celebrate its 60th anniversary.