New York Fashion Week

The bi-annual New York Fashion Week, created in 1993 by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, always has a high-wattage runway schedule with fashion collections shown to the buyers, the fashion media and others on the coveted guest list. Producers of New York Fashion Week include IMG, The SOCIETY Fashion Week, FTL Moda in conjunction with Fashion Week Online, Style 360, Art Hearts Fashion, Style Fashion Week, and ASC Fashion week among others. The economic impact of New York Fashion Week is estimated at $887 million.

The showings at New York Fashion Week are at the forefront of shaping culture, fashion trends and the evolution of American fashion. The event provides leading fashion designers from around the world with an unrivalled global platform to showcase their seasonal collections bi-annually every February and September.

Per Vogue: "Before the advent of the Second World War, Paris had been the epicentre of fashion: where buyers and press alike flocked, keen to know what the couturiers were producing next. The French capital powerfully dictated trends, with plenty of US-based fashion labels copying what first appeared across the Atlantic. However, as war continued across the globe and Paris remained under German occupation, an opportunity emerged for the Americans to establish their own design credentials."

The precursor to New York Fashion Week was "Press Week," which began in the Forties. It was organized by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert as the means of showcasing American fashion and diverting attention from French fashion during World War II. Buyers had to schedule separate visits to showrooms. 

The plan was a huge success. Homegrown fashion talent was finally taken seriously, with American designers including Claire McCardell, Hattie Carnegie and Norman Norell acknowledged in top-tier fashion magazines like Vogue. In 1945, Ruth Finley began coordinating the Fashion Calendar ensuring that fashion designers’ show times didn’t clash. By the mid Fifties the event was referred to as "Press Week of New York". 

Per Vogue: “Lambert was still involved, helping to set up the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1962, to ensure recognition of the US fashion industry both culturally and economically. And the shows just kept getting bigger and better. From Lambert's protégé Halston’s events… to Diane von Furstenberg showcasing her now ubiquitous wrap dresses, the 1970s saw plenty of glitz and innovation."

Over the next few decades, this increasingly packed schedule of shows helped to establish America as a serious fashion force, debuting many of today’s big names from Oscar de la Renta to Ralph Lauren. By the early Nineties fashion journalists and buyers were exhausted due to every show taking place in a different venue. In 1993, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, CFDA- led by president Stan Herman and executive director Fern Mallis- In 1993, the Council of Fashion Designers of America took over the organization of NYFW and consolidated the citywide events by staging them in Bryant Park. This brought structure and professionalism to the event which was branded with the trademark "7th on Sixth".

NYFW expanded its reach throughout the late twentieth century and attracted top fashion designers, runway models, and fashion editors, making it a global fashion destination. In 2001, "7th on Sixth" was sold to IMG. The exhibition was canceled in September 2001 in light of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.  In 2007 Mercedes-Benz became title sponsor of the IMG-produced events, naming it "MB Fashion Week New York". In 2010, IMG- Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York left Bryant Park, relocating to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In September 2011, New York designers began live-streaming runway shows, in order to reach a greater audience.

In 2013, IMG and its New York Fashion Week events were sold to William Morris Endeavour and Silver Lake Partners for an estimated $2.3 billion. In 2014, the CFDA acquired FashionCalendar.com from Ruth Finley. The company had managed it for more than sixty years.  In January 2015, Mercedes-Benz announced its departure as title sponsor. Producer Kanye West announced he would take over sponsorship. In March 2015, WME- IMG announced that it had acquired MADE Fashion Week, which takes place during WME-IMG's events. In 2015, IMG's events were moved from Lincoln Center to Spring Studios.

“After weathering the storm of a new millennium… the 2000s brought new possibilities and challenges" per Vogue. “In 2001, for the first time ever, the shows were cancelled in the aftermath of 9-11... The years that followed were a time of great advance, with a slew of upcoming designers, including Rodarte, Thakoon, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung and Alexander Wang."

These days it is held in Tribeca's Spring Studios but increasingly more and more fashion designers are returning to off-site presentations and installations. Notwithstanding.. NYFC is a dominant fashion and cultural force. With the rise of the internet and social media, it has also became more accessible to the public. Per W: "NYFW increasingly emphasized diversity and inclusivity, with designers showcasing a wider range of body types and ethnicities on the runway."

Throughout its tenure- and moving forward- NYFW plays a crucial role in shaping the American fashion industry, providing a platform for both established and emerging fashion designers to showcase their collections to a global audience. As Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw stated, "Every year the women of New York leave the past behind and look forward to the future. This is known as Fashion Week."

On July 19, 1943, the first-ever "fashion week," New York Fashion Week, was held, with the mission of giving fashion buyers alternatives to French fashion during World War II, when people in the fashion industry were unable to travel to Paris. 

Paris was an authority on global fashion trends. However- as war continued across the globe and Paris remained under German occupation- an opportunity emerged for American fashion designers to establish themselves. Since- New York Fashion Week envisioned presenting American fashion to global fashion journalists and buyers- helping them to carve a niche on the global fashion map.

Fashion shows and presentations held in New York to uplift American fashion.