By Anita Eboigbe
Abuja – Fashion house, Gucci has cancelled its Cruise 2021 show due to the ongoing Corona virus (covid-19) outbreak.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Italian fashion house confirmed its decision to cancel the show which was due to take place on May 18, in a statement.
A spokesperson for Gucci said the brand’s decision resulted from “the ongoing uncertainty prompted by the Corona virus outbreak” saying it was “a precautionary measure”.
“A decision on the new timing and location of the show will be announced at a later date, once the situation becomes clearer.
“At this time, our thoughts are with all of those affected around the world,” the statement said.
According to reports, the brand’s creative director, Alessandro Michele initially chose an American city to host the show due to its reputation as centre of liberal activism and cultural melting pot.
NAN reports that the show was the latest in a series of global fashion industry events that had been affected by the virus.
In February, Prada announced that it had decided to postpone its Cruise 2021 show, which was scheduled to take place on May 21 in Tokyo, due to Corona virus fears.
With Cruise season fast-approaching, it remained unclear as to whether more brands would be forced to follow suit.
Giorgio Armani was expected to kick off the event with its Cruise offering in Dubai on April 19.
However, there were concerns that it may be postponed after the brand decided to cancel its autumn/winter 2020 show during Milan Fashion Week amid the Corona virus threat in Italy.
Instead, Armani opted to live stream the runway in an empty theatre across the fashion house’s social media channels.
In a statement, the brand said the decision was made “to safeguard the wellbeing of all his invited guests by not having them attend crowded spaces”.
So far, more than 98,000 people were known to be infected with Corona virus and more than 3,000 deaths have been recorded.
Meanwhile, Italy became one of the worst affected countries after an outbreak in northern provinces of Lombardy and Veneto, which saw death toll rose to 52 while confirmed cases increased to 1,835.
(NAN)
