Changing the fashion cycle?

E- retailer Net a Porter is about to break the fashion cycle in a unprecedented way. The online shop will offer two looks from the first Halston line to be show in New York fashion week, just a day after the outfits hit the catwalk. "As the collection goes down the runway on February 4 and the press and buyers are seeing it for the first time, two of the key pieces will be sitting, wrapped, packed and ready to go in our distribution centres in Manhattan and London for worldwide delivery," says Net – a – Porter’s chairman and founder, Natalie Massenet. "We will go live within 24 hours of the show, with exclusive content of the show. The customers can log on and be the first women around the world to wear the new Halston." The move bucks the trend of the fashion cycle, where collections are shown six months in advance of going into stores and lower-end labels have time to work on copies. "This is offering a luxury brand a lifeline in an age when the high street chain will deliver their product to customers faster," Massenet explains in today's WWD.