Fashion thrives on change, and this New York Fashion Week, which begins on Thursday, February 8th and runs through Wednesday, February 14th, will bring a lot of new, regardless of what the designers show on the runway , because the event is moving. However, the new residence is as controversial as any other major change in fashion. The upcoming shows will be held for the first time at the Starrett-Lehigh building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, a 19-story building that takes up an entire city block.
However, New York Fashion Week has never stayed in one place for long. The tradition of couturiers presenting their latest collections to the public was started in 1943 by Eleanor Lambert when she launched Press Week, a post-war showcase designed to highlight homegrown talent over French design, held at the Plaza Hotel . The event soon outgrew its scope, and over the following decades, designers began showing their collections in art galleries, nightclubs, department stores, the outdoors, and even traveling trunk shows.
The modern version of NYFW can be traced back to 1993, when it became known as Seventh on Sixth under the leadership of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the leadership of Fern Mallis. From 1993 to 2009, it was held at Bryant Park, its longest location, in the “tents”, the temporary white structures erected for the twice-yearly event that contained three walkways. The location has been immortalized in numerous film and television scenes, most notably in Sex & The City, when PETA’s character Samantha was doused with paint as she climbed the front steps wearing fur clothing. During this time, NYFW attracted not only Hollywood but also corporate attention and advertising dollars. In 2007 it became Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Members of the industry’s old guard still fondly remember the tents that were like blank canvases waiting to be decorated with each designer’s vision, but also how they were easy to get to because the studios were the Designers and editorial staff were often within walking distance. Since then, fashion week has become increasingly decentralized.
NYFW moved to Lincoln Center in 2010, where it had more space than Bryant Park and stayed for five years before losing its license and Mercedes-Benz sponsorship. She moved to two sister locations, the Skylight Clarkson Square downtown and forty blocks north of that, the Skylight Moynihan Station. Since 2018, New York Fashion Week has been at Spring Studios in Tribeca. NYFW: The Talks, a series of conversations and panels from talent agency IMG with industry thought leaders, also took place here. Spring Studios, which also hosted the Tribeca Film Festival, featured five studio spaces, a mezzanine, an open rooftop terrace, and a restaurant with plenty of natural light. However, there were problems here too: there were frequent bottlenecks in the elevators that took guests to the upper floors where the catwalks were located, and the September event was marred by poor air conditioning.
New York Fashion Week premiere at Starrett-Lehigh
The decision by IMG, the sports, event and talent management company responsible for NYFW, to leave Spring Studios was announced in December. While Starrett-Lehigh will be the official headquarters of NYFW, IMG will also host NYFW: The Showrooms at High Line Nine and the consumer-focused NYFW Backstage at 21 Greene, a pop show designed by Ethan Tobman, the mastermind behind Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. up experience where visitors can take a look behind the scenes to see how the shows are produced.
Built in 1931, the 2.3 million-square-foot fashion center features high ceilings, panoramic views of the city skyline and the Hudson River, and an outdoor terrace. As one of the city’s largest buildings, it’s no newcomer to the fashion world, having hosted runway events from designers such as Christian Cowan and Altuzarra and hosted the One Fine Day bridal show. Both big brands and indie names will choose to livestream their shows for virtual audiences, and they will continue to explore post-pandemic alternatives to shows to best convey their visions to modern audiences. But regardless of whether the official NYFW headquarters is downtown, uptown or midtown, and although the time slots are scheduled back to back, the designers will not be tied to one address. One example of this is Marc Jacobs, now a member of the old guard himself, who presented his 40th anniversary runway show at the Park Avenue Armory last Friday, six days ahead of schedule.
According to the CFDA, labels such as Prabal Gurung, Area and rising Parisian Ludovic de Saint Sernin are preparing to present their fall/winter 2024 collections at Starett-Lehigh, while Jason Wu, Ulla Johnson and Proenza Schouler are hosting external shows.
This translated post previously appeared on FashionUnited.com