The Changing Face of Fashion Week

So, what’s it all about? No, I am not talking about “Alfie.”  Funny you say, maybe I should. And speaking of nostalgia, some fashion insiders argue that it would be great to go back to what New York Fashion Week was in the 1970s, 80s and certainly the glory days of  “The Tents” at Bryant Park. So, you ask, what is Fashion Week really about, now?

Every season it seems that Fashion Week is less and less about the collections. “… the real point of Fashion Week, to promote collections to editors and retailers several months before they will be in stores, is becoming lost in the age of instant online accessibility,” said Eric Wilson in his article in The New York Times this past September.

Others fashion insiders chime in on Wilson’s New York Times diatribe. “I think things are going way too fast.  It used to be that you really didn’t know any thing about the new collections until Vogue or the other fashion glossies ran articles about the upcoming collections. Now, consumers have virtual access to the collections a few hours after the collections hit the runway,” contends casting director and former Givenchy model Sandi Bass.

Still, others feel the problem stems from the infiltration of film stars and celebrities. “Fashion Week is now a media event and about who can bring the largest amount of celebrities to sit in the front row at their show. This influx of celebrities has attracted a mass audience outside of the fashion industry,” explains Grammy-nominated stylist Rosemary Ponzo. “Fashion Week was for an elite group of editors, stylists, buyers, photographers, and socialites… When you look at fashion magazine covers now you see actresses, sports figures and celebrities, not fashion models. That is where the change started to happen.

Scott French, editor-in-chief of thefashionlist.com has a different perspective. “I have noticed that MBFW is much more of a consumer-driven medium. Almost anybody can get into the shows and there is a much looser door policy. And as a result, it has watered down the allure and specialness of MBFW. Before MBFW felt more exclusive and you felt that you had special access as an industry professional. You felt as a journalist that you were reporting to fashion fans and the larger fashion community; however, now with larger access it’s a bit more of a hodgepodge.”

“The old way of doing things doesn’t have as much weight as it used to have,” continues French.  “The new fashion media stars are being created daily and the fashion PR firms have to be on top of that. There are certain publicists who get it right. Kelly Cutrone is a prime example. For all of her controversy, she really runs her shows well doing Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. If you are a journalist and you are covering her shows, she really makes you feel like you belong there.”

With the defection of many of the top designers from Lincoln Center and the absence of many of the fashion industry’s bigwigs from the shows, IMG Worldwide, the producer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, has made some drastic changes. “It was becoming a zoo. What used to be a platform for established designers to debut their collections to select media and buyers has developed into a cluttered, often cost-prohibitive and exhausting period for our industry to effectively do business,” detailed Catherine Bennett of IMG Fashion. That said; the venues at Lincoln Center have been reduced in size to accommodate a more elite audience, and the media list has been reduced by 20%.

This re-adjustment has caused consternation among many fashion bloggers who have been denied media credentials this season. But not all fashion bloggers feel left out or seem to care. “One does not have to see the actual show to see the clothes,” explains fashion blogger extraordinaire Bryanboy in a lifestyle.inquirer.net article. “I love seeing everything up close. Brands have re-sees and press days. Also, the designers I have close relationships with invite me to have a preview of the looks they are creating just days before they show. There’s something magical about touching and feeling the fabrics they use—and one could not do that while sitting on the front row.”

But that is easy for Bryanboy to say in that he is represented by IMG Models, and his blog is hosted by Fairchild Fashion Media, two of the biggest names in the fashion pantheon. Still, others who cheer the change have a different point of view. “… the ill-conceived days of favouring a 19-year-old nobody with a seat near the front while pushing buyers to the back may well be over. And hooray to that. After all, if you have a limited space in which to seat people and you are in the business of selling clothes it makes perfect sense to focus on those people who will actually help your business,” postulates Robert Johnson in a recent gq-magazine.co.uk article.

So, what is Fashion Week all about this season? Hopefully, the fall 2014 season will be about the collections.  Change is inevitable, and should be embraced. However, change does not trump what has worked and the reasons behind the tried and true. Technology can and should forward accessibility, but not at the expense of expertise and market value. And it seems that this season IMG is finding a way to embrace both.

—William S. Gooch