Last week, Lisa Walden mused on HERO about the sudden, unprecedented shift in the industry towards a system based on immediacy, reflecting the progression of digital communication over recent years, rather than the the current structure – “an antiquated idea that no longer makes sense,” Tom Ford said.

Designers and CEOs are adapting. Rather than adhere to established practices, they’re going their own way, taking control of the future of their brands – and the industry. Burberry and Tom Ford both proclaimed their distaste and reasoning for adapting to an arrangement where consumers can buy collections as soon as they’re shown, in congruence with the seasons that they are shown in.

Christopher Bailey spoke to The Business of Fashion at the time: “It often felt slightly superficial to be talking about an Autumn/Winter collection, when it’s 90 degrees in a third of the shops we’re selling it in.”

Not everyone agrees, however. “There are some brands for which a runway show is a communications event,” Francois-Henri Pinault, Chief Executive Officer of Kering (owner of Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, among others), explained. “Burberry has doubtless [sic] decided what suits it best. What we will decide will be what suits our brands and our vision of luxury.”

Polar-opposite ideas, different visions, fresh executions: what’s clear is that irrespective of the outcomes, you can expect the industry to become more dynamic and distinct. Brands are rejecting orthodoxy, and in some cases, upholding it. But without a doubt, we are entering an exciting new age.