Nobody talks about the big event in New York, or at least they don’t talk about it as before.
The fashion planet has gravitated around the “Big Four” system for decades, with thousands of guests, journalists and buyers ready to participate at the most glamorous events of the year. But now, the interest seems to have almost completely waned. Surely, you are thinking about the pandemic as the main cause, since shows are held exclusively in digital format or behind closed doors. But isn’t really that.
Pandemic slowed down Fashion Weeks in Paris, London and Milan. But in the New York, the situation is much more complicated. Covid-19 is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back. A jar already full.
Michael Kors, Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Brandon Maxwell and Tory Burch are just some of the big names who gave up the “race” years ago, and still wonder why there is to spend exorbitant amounts to participate to an event no longer really influent.
You may be wondering what the main cause of this disinterest is then. But let’s go step by step.
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Until 2015, New York Women’s Fashion Week held its highly anticipated annual double date. Between millions of dollars, thousands of jobs and ecstatic tourism, the situation was more than normal and the event has excelled for years on fashion system’s agenda. In fact, in 2015 there was the debut of first Men’s edition, with more than 50 brands.
But consequently, with the relocation of the headquarters from Lincoln Center to Clarkson Square in the Soho district, harmony of the past has disappeared. Many designers have chosen other locations. Alexander Wang, for example, took the opportunity to organize exclusive events and other brands have cut costs of shows, that have risen significantly due to new costs of venue.
Then, it was Tommy Hilfiger in 2016 to announced a change of direction from New York to Los Angeles, which initially seemed temporary, but it wasn’t with the move to Paris. In 2017, with ups and downs, New York Fashion Week has become an increasingly as “local” phenomenon and it lost many sponsors. This led the Council of Fashion Designer of America to communicate the necessary union of menswear with womenswear, it reducing shows and cutting costs. Other illustrious defections followed such as those of Proenza Shouler, Rodarte, Thom Browne and Aluzzarra, who preferred Paris, which in the meantime became the fashion capital. In the meantime, Tom Ford, Narciso Rodriguez and Marc Jacobs remained in New York renewing their performances with collaborations and alternative sets.
And nothing seemed to improve even when Tom Ford became president of Council of Fashion Designer of America in 2019, promising a big recovery in 2020, but big names continued to desert the event making pandemic only latest ‘ fatal drop’.
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Anna Wintour, in an interview with Naomi Campbell during the lockdown in the spring, also spoke about her vision of the future of fashion, but her answer was not in line with Tom Ford’s choice. For Vogue America’s fashion director, now it’s time to change: “The time has come to review our values and reflect on waste, consumerism, the excesses to which we have all abandoned ourselves: the fashion industry needs to be rethought”.
And fashion weeks, not only those of the Big Apple, have never had anything sustainable.
Tom Ford, for the latest edition confirmed a new format with “American collection calendar”, and he said: “Wherever or however American designers choose to show their collections, it is our job as CFDA to honor our original mission statement. and to help promote and support American fashion. Therefore, we will publish not only the program of designers who show in New York during New York Fashion Week, but also those of American designers who show off the calendar and abroad.”
Then, the last edition of Fashion Week ended on February 17 and kicked off for just 4 days with many fashion houses that chose to run later, such as Carolina Herrena on February 23 and Oscar de la Renta on March 3.
In short, that of glamorous and highly anticipated event of 10 days seems to be a distant memory, since no one wanted to reach the Big Apple for only 4 days, especially when it was also the captain who abandoned the ship: Tom Ford decided to postpone the event to February 26 on the eve of his fashion show due to “the pandemic’s fault”. A choice certainly due to a fluctuating health situation, but it was a decision that certainly didn’t help the survival of the event.
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New York from the “city that never sleeps” seems to have become “Sleeping Beauty”. Although, talents are not lacking. In the last three editions, many brands have emerged: Collina Strada and Imitation of Christ are among those that debuted in 2020. But that’s not enough.
New York needs to recreate the harmony of past years in order to “counting” again.
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