Public School shifts schedule to show men's & women's on Pre-Collection Calendar

London - New York fashion label Public School - led by Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow - is set to move its catwalk show to June to align with the pre-collection calendar. In addition, the designers are set to combine their men's and women's collections into two single shows per year, following in the footsteps of other labels such as Gucci, Burberry and Vetements, in shunning the traditional fashion week calendar in favour of a more direct, combined and accessible event.

The collections will be presented together on the catwalks in June and December and will named Collection 1 (pre-spring and spring) and Collection 2 (pre-autumn and autumn). The location of the shows and the exact show dates will be announced at a later time. "Showing twice a year with both men’s and women’s in one show will allow us to really develop our ideas cohesively throughout the year and subsequently slow the entire process down. We can actually enjoy our collections as opposed to being tied to the calendar," said Chow to WWD.

Public School to host two shows per year in June and December

The designer admitted that their decision to combine the shows and change its schedule may not necessarily make things easier for them but would make it more enjoyable. Public School relaunched its men's wear label in 2012 and added its women's wear line in 2014 and has shown the two separately since the debut of New York's Men fashion week. "When we launched women’s it was always the extension of the men’s collections," added Osborne. "It was a collection that our female friends could enjoy without altering the men’s pieces to wear. We feel the similar design approach made more of an impact when we showed men’s and women’s at the same time."

The label will not be completely absent from fashion weeks in January and July for men's and February and September for women however, as Public School will turn its focus to launching more consumer-based activities, which could be a pop-up store or other retail activities. "We’re still thinking of other ways to really make that happen. That’s the fun part of figuring out how we touch the customer," noted Osborne. Anthony Landereau, President of Public School, added that the label aims to make its pre-collection twice as big as they were in past as they have proven to be the best performing collection.

"Enlarging this collection and making them more of a statement is pretty important for us," said Landereau. "Showing men’s and women’s together was, for us, very natural. Women’s has always been an extension of men’s. Showing men’s a month before the normal calendar will enable us to have a better collection and better deliveries." In addition, the shift of the catwalk shows is said to align better with the duo's creative responsibilities at DKNY, where they share the responsibility of creative director. The designers have no plans to make a similar decision for DKNY and will now have more time between Public School and DKNY shows.

"We’re doing what will work best for us. The thing is, nowadays, there are no rules. Each brand should do what makes sense for their business," concluded Chow.