Paris Fashion Week launched on Monday - taking place fully online for the first time due to the COVID-19 crisis.   

The event is a huge marketing tool for fashion houses and designers to show their new collections – and crucially to put them in front of the critics and influencers who can share images and their thoughts instantly on social media.

Michael Jais' company Launchmetrics enabled the online launch. He told CGTN Europe: "The main challenge for brands today is that previously they had [to] just focus on the show itself and it was up to the audience amplify it. They had celebrities, influencers and media sitting front row and sharing it immediately from their phones. But now, well, it's different, it's up to the brand to amplify the show themselves." 

He added: "And so it's really important to consider how to package and distribute the right content to the right audience at the right moment." 

He also noted the importance of changing the approach designers and organizers use – including not just copying and pasting the in-person shows they had planned. 

"Digital has allowed and embraced the concept of democracy and it allows users, consumers, from all over the world to connect and join the haute couture event. And it's also very focused on brand values and speaks to consumers directly. And it gives them the feeling of intimacy and connection. I think that really it's the last step that moves Fashion Week from an industry event to a consumer event," Jais added.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, 50, opened the first-ever digital Paris Couture Week on Monday with a powerful speech calling for "equality and diversity" in the fashion industry.

She spoke via video link, saying that "the time has come to collectively call the fashion world to task regarding inequality" in the workspace, as well as the industry.

"Action without vision is only passing time. Vision without action is merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the world," she said, quoting Nelson Mandela. She went on to explain how the Black Lives Matter movement has built momentum for permanent change and is a launchpad to promote diversity, inclusiveness and equality.

Campbell said it was "a call for action" in Paris and expressed hope that the conversation could last for as long as it is needed.

"It is up to us, it is up to you, to start enforcing inclusion of the multitude of identities that compose our countries. The time has come to build a more equitable industry with a good form of checks and balances," said the supermodel.

Campbell said it is necessary to include minorities from different countries and cultures in regular and sustainable conversations.

Paris Fashion Week was moved online for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the haute couture and men's fashion weeks rolled into one. Fashion labels made films to showcase their clothes.

On the first day, fashion brands including Dior and Giambattista Valli presented their designs. Maison Schiaparelli has also shown creative director Daniel Roseberry's sketching of an "Imaginary Collection," since it has no new collection this season.

"Everything has changed, but imagination and the drive to create has never been more relevant, or more profound. This collection is a tribute to that impulse to create," Roseberry said. "Someday very soon, I will venture back to Paris and hand these styles off to the atelier. We will make a portion of these and take them around the world to share with our valued clients and stylists."

Video Editor: Natalia Luz