After casting a heavy shadow on the holiday retail period, France’s “gilets jaunes,” or yellow vests, movement threatens to disrupt the calendar of Paris men’s fashion week.
Dior on Tuesday sent out an e-mail advising guests that it was moving its show from its initial slot of 5 p.m. on Jan. 19 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 18 due to the ongoing antigovernment protests, which began on Nov. 17 and typically take place across the country on Saturdays. The fashion house has yet to disclose the location of the show.
The collection designed by Kim Jones will now be unveiled in a Friday slot in the official schedule between Comme des Garçons Homme Plus and Balmain Homme. Other major brands scheduled to show on Saturday include Loewe, making its runway debut, Thom Browne and Hermès.
Symbolized by demonstrators wearing yellow safety vests, the protest movement started out as discontent over a fuel tax but has broadened to encompass a range of frustrations over declining living standards, taking a violent turn that has caught the country by surprise and thrown the government of French President Emmanuel Macron into crisis.
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Peaceful demonstrators have been joined by rioters who have targeted luxury stores and other businesses, turning the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and other locations into battlefields.
After several of its stores were looted, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton — Dior’s parent company — opted to take the drastic step of closing all its stores in Paris on several Saturdays before Christmas, as did fellow luxury players including Kering and leading department stores.
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
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