By: Caroline Cutchall ’24
From the world’s biggest fashion brands, such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, to blooming brands who make their debut through this monumental event, New York Fashion Week sets the stage for designers to get their brand known and collections seen by buyers, sellers, and the general public. Most significantly, New York Fashion Week defines the role of fashion as an integral part of society: not only a form of entertainment, but fashion is also an outlet to embrace freedom of expression, challenge expectations and conformity, and physically represent ideas with the use of creativity and cohesive details.
New York Fashion Week is a biannual showcase, taking place every February and September, which allows designers to showcase their different seasonal collections and status in the fashion industry. Approximately 70 designers participate in the event. Brands such as Michael Kors and Nordstrom have been consistent participants since the fashion week begun, while new brands also make their debut, beginning their journey in the fashion industry with the aid of NYFW’s guaranteed publicity and attention.
The origins of New York Fashion Week are credited to the work and passion of publicist and art connoisseur Eleanor Lambert. She studied sculpture and then decided to begin her publicity career in the art world by playing an integral role in helping discover the New York Dress Institute in 1941. Lambert always had a knack for fashion and merchandise because of clothing’s ability to attract the eye and the soul, with the various facets of meaning in every article of clothing and miniscule detail in the design.
Before 1943, Paris had been the epicenter of the fashion industry, and buyers and sellers alike would flock to Paris for fashion inspiration and merchandise. But this perception quickly changed with the onset of World War II. With Paris under German control and occupation during the wartime years, the opportunity for Americans to establish their presence in the fashion industry became available and an attractive option.
So, Lambert decided to act upon this opportunity—she began to develop an inviting vision of showcasing American fashion when French fashion was unavailable during WWII and bringing the fashion industry’s innovation to America’s grasp. And this vision emerged into “Press Week of New York”, with its foundational purpose to promote America designers and creations to the public, comprised of buyers, sellers, and general spectators alike.
In 1962, Lambert took her passion for fashion a step further by creating a non-profit organization called the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to bring designers into the spotlight, putting American fashion on the map. This was her first effort in bringing more American designers to the spotlight, in an industry that had been predominantly European-fueled.
With the influence that the war was having on every side of American life, from everyday life to American culture and economy, Lambert ensured that fashion shows were doing their part in raising money and awareness of the war effort. One of the most notable shows that intertwined American fashion and WWII was the Battle of Versailles Fashion Show held on November 28, 1973 in the Palace of Versailles to raise money for its restoration as a historic monument. The show pitted American designers against French designers, to emphasize the reality that French designers had worthy competition, debuting American designs as worthy of attention and international recognition.
American designers included Black models who stole the show and captured vibrant energy with engaging music, songs and dancing. This show became known as the event that not only propelled American fashion onto the global stage, but also reflected what American life was truly like at the time, offering a genuine glimpse into reality versus an outlet of escapism as fashion shows were often seen to be.
Author of The Battle of Versailles Robin Givhan said, “It was a reflection of what was going on politically and socially in terms of race relations. The Americans emphasized ready-to-wear, sportwear, and fashion as a kind of entertainment and a women’s freedom to choose her own style of dress.”
As America gained entry onto the global stage, New York Fashion Week became flexible to fashion trends and evolving technology. Changing times called for changing fashion norms, and these were strongly reflected in the nature and order of the shows. Over the decades, designers had gained more autonomy in choosing venues and settings that fit their collections and accommodated their vision.
But every positive value has its price in negative terms. By the early 1990s, the press and buyers were exhausted from every show taking on a different direction. Details such as the show location and the requirements needed to make the show memorable and unlike all of the other shows were just as much of a headache as they were seen as a new exciting opportunity.
With this chaotic and stressful psychological build-up, it eventually reached a physical climatic fall with the collapse of a ceiling at a Michael Kors show in 1991. This hazardous event prompted press to raise their concerns about the direction NYFW was heading in: a direction that was overbearing for event coordinators, press, models and designers themselves.
Hearing the valid points made across several different brands, executive director of the CFDA Fern Mallis decided that NYFW needed to bring in its reigns and limit freedom when it came to individual designers choosing their respective spaces. So, the two white tents in Bryant Park became the host for the shows, and over the years has continued to shift as the number of participating brands continues to increase.
Now, the shows take place in Tribeca’s Spring Studios. Besides conveniency, having a centralized location for the shows has also made the event seem more consistent and has caused it to be taken more seriously by audiences and designers in the shows themselves.
Hearing the valid points made across several different brands, executive director of the CFDA Fern Mallis decided that NYFW needed to bring in its reigns and limit freedom when it came to individual designers choosing their respective spaces. So, the two white tents in Bryant Park
became the host for the shows, and over the years has continued to shift as the number of participating brands continues to increase.
Now, the shows take place in Tribeca’s Spring Studios. Besides conveniency, having a centralized location for the shows has also made the event seem more consistent and has caused it to be taken more seriously by audiences and designers in the shows themselves.
Since 1962, Lambert’s non-profit organization has gained significant traction, from buyers and sellers to ordinary audiences and fashion connoisseurs. In 1993, the Council of Fashion Designers of America transformed Press Week into a more formal, organized event called “7th on Sixth.” The name was attributed after the location of the main show venues on 7th Avenue in NYC’s Garment District.
The foremost goal of the event was to formalize the fashion shows by bringing designers, sponsors and the media together and coordinate more organized show schedules and receptions. From its meticulous attention to detail and commitment to regarding fashion shows more seriously than ever before, 7th on Six gained international recognition as one of the “Big Four” fashion weeks alongside London, Paris, and Milan.
New York Fashion Week has impacted every side of American life, from the way audiences perceive the innate function of fashion to the way designers and buyers perceive the past and present of fashion and how they anticipate its future. In 2015, organizers and designers behind New York Fashion Week facilitated a significant rebranding effort for the iconic biannual showcase.
Going further than just a brand logo change, the minds behind the rebranding wanted to reflect the changing nature of the fashion industry by incorporating technology, social media and online streaming into the event to reach a broader audience.
NYFW designers have ingeniously implemented technology into the appeal and success of their brands through giving out free NFT’s, or non-fungible tokens, to attendees. According to iCommunity Labs research, “Possessing an NFT can allow the customer of an apparel brand to access certain benefits, events, fashion shows, or experiences that the company has created both in the physical and online world.”
The NFT from the Altuzarra show in 2022 is one of the strongest examples of the effective interweaving of technology into the brand’s success and growing influence.
According to fashion blog writer Zofia Zwieglinska in Glossy, “Guests at the Altuzarra show were given a package that included a book that inspired the designer’s collection this season. It also included a personal note from the designer and inspiration imagery, the latter of which was immortalized in NFT form with the help of the social NFT marketplace Bubblehouse. The showgoers-turned-NFT holders will be invited into Altuzarra’s exclusive ‘collector’s club’ on the platform, giving them access to future NFT drops, early access to private events and premium access to the brand.”
Unique, memorable tokens like these are part of the success stories of not only individual brands making their mark on the stage at New York Fashion Week, but also maximizing their presence beyond the New York Stage and into other stages of the fashion industry.
As much as fashion is evolving in accordance with changing times, norms, expectations and trends, New York Fashion Week is a timeless celebration of fashion’s ability to capture the eye, soul and heart all together with pieces that contain value and meaning. NYFW brings designers together from all over the world to unite in a universal passion while pursuing that passion differently through diverse collections and designs.
Even though fashion may look different for every person based on his or her interests and creative preferences, fashion binds humanity together as a creative outlet to celebrate the power of beauty and the role it plays on self-expression.
As Eleanor Lambert said, “You cannot separate people, their yearnings, their dreams and their inborn vanity from an interest in clothes.”
