Weekend Fashion News Alert: Taylor Swift’s T.S. 1989 Launch Issues, CFDA Launches Fashion Initiative, and IMG Announces NYFW Schedule and New Logo

There is much controversy around pop superstar Taylor Swift’s clothing line T.S. 1989. Launched on Friday in China, people associated with the new brand were concerned that the logo T.S. 1989 might invoke images of Tiananmen Square, the center for pro-democracy protests that were violently suppressed on June 4, 1989, with hundreds killed. There was even speculation that the T.S. 1989 logo would be removed from some items sold in China.

“The Official Taylor Swift Merchandise line will feature many designs utilizing her name, lyrics and image as well as The 1989 World Tour logo and the cover of her current album, 1989. It is well known that 1989 is the year Taylor was born,” explained Swift’s publicist Tree Paine and Jay Schaudies to Reuters.

T.S. 1989 actually is Taylor Swift’s initials and the year she was born.

NYFW: The Shows

Now that Mercedes Benz has exited New York Fashion Week (NYFW) as its official sponsor, IMG officials have recently acquired Lexus as the official car sponsor replacing Mercedes Benz. Other sponsors include Maybelline New York, E! Entertainment, TRESemmé, Intel, and DHL. With the news sponsors and the exit of Mercedes Benz, NYFW is now renamed New York Fashion Week: The Shows with a new logo to boot.  For MADE Fashion Week which is now a part of NYFW: The Shows, the sponsors include Accenture, American Express, Intel, Lexus, Macy’s, and Maybelline New York.

“Evolving a high-profile event with this many moving parts takes time, effort, and the trust and support of the industry,” said Mark Shapiro, Chief Content Officer, IMG. “We’re so pleased with the response to the changes we’re making, and are excited to welcome new and returning designers and partners, as well as the MADE community, to the fold. We look forward to showing the industry all we’ve been working on come September.”

The new location for NYFW: The Shows will be Skylight at Moynihan Station and Skylight Clarkson Sq. MADE will continue to show at Milk Studios. Designers and brands including Prabal Gurung, Tommy Hilfiger, Betsey Johnson, J. Crew, Badgley Mischka, Naeem Khan, Derek Lam, Charles Harbison,and others will show at Skyligt at Moynihan Station while Gypsy Sport, Jeremy Scott, Baja East, Telfar, Jonathan Simkhai, Collina Strada, Cushnie et Ochs, Marissa Webb, will show at Milk Studios.

New York Fashion Week: The Shows and MADE Fashion Week will take place from September 10th through the 17th.

The CFDA’s new initiative

The CFDA has partnered with Lexus to launch an initiative that will create meaningful change in American fashion. This business initiative will be a 17-month residency focusing the challenges of environmental, social, and financial changes in the fashion industry.

According to fashionmag.com, ten fashion brands will participate in this initiative. Brands must maintained business operations for a minimum of 2 years, show evidence of a committed brand ethos towards conscious business practices and be able to participate in monthly workshops and program activities in New York City beginning in October 2015 through April 2017. The program’s Inaugural Advisory Board will select the 10 participating brands. Three out of the ten brands that significantly evolve their companies’ ethos will receive a monetary prize—one winner will receive $150,000 and two runner-ups will be awarded $50,000.

Applications for the 2015-2017 term will be accepted until September 14, 2015

—William S. Gooch