Is New York Fashion Week Still Relevant?
A short history of runway shows and where we are today
New York Fashion Week begins this Friday, September 6th. With over sixty runway shows on the calendar it will be a busy week. But what is the end game of all these shows and what does it mean to the fashion industry writ large and to the consumers of fashion? Does the sheer number and circus-like atmosphere surrounding the shows degrade the relevance of Fashion Week?
I’ve been in fashion longer than I care to admit. Pre computer, pre social media, pre front row celebrities. In the late eighties and early nineties, shows for most of the New York designers were held in the showrooms of the house. New York fashion in those days was dominated by Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Donna Karen and Ralph Lauren. Then there was the old guard, Bill Blass, Geoffrey Beene and Oscar de la Renta. Marc Jacobs was a young upstart and made a big splash with his Spring 1993 Grunge collection for Perry Ellis. Michael Kors’s business was on the rise.
The industry was a much smaller, insulated world then. Even the above mentioned dominant companies were run like small family businesses and were privately owned. When I worked at Calvin Klein, Calvin ran the creative side and his partner, Barry Schwartz, ran the business. There was not a huge corporate structure. At Oscar de la Renta, where I worked in the late nineties and early aughts, it was even smaller. I was one of only four design assistants to Oscar, who was very much involved. That comprised the entire design team. A structure unheard of today. I believe our small team was able to do the work, and have normal lives (at Oscar we routinely left the office at 6:00 pm) because we had only two major collections a year: Spring and Fall. Holiday, resort and pre fall were lesser collections that the sales and merchandising team would compile from the best sellers of previous seasons with minimal input from design.
I know the genie can’t be put back in the bottle, nor do I think it should. We live in a very different world today. One dominated by an endless news cycle, social media, and perhaps most importantly big money. I think the most significant change to fashion occurred when publicly traded conglomerates, such as LVMH and Kering, began to acquire designer houses, amassing the most notable names in fashion. With that came an imbalance of power in advertising, marketing and retail space.
The luxury market shifted to a platform for branding rather than the individual vision of a founding designer. To feed the bottom line and fuel growth, emphasis was put on the more profitable fragrance and accessories side of the business. The less profitable clothing side of the business became a PR vehicle and fodder for the endless news cycle, hence the elaborate shows and emphasis on celebrities.
With this there was a paradigm shift in the importance of the fashion show for the entire fashion food chain. Gone were the days of shows as an industry event for press, buyers and loyal clients who actually paid for the clothes. Shows entered the realm of entertainment. Typically, shows are under twenty minutes but they can live online for eternity. Viral moments to ensure an online afterlife had to be cultivated. The lowest hanging fruit of them all is the celebrity presence. Soon celebrities were dressed, gratis, and paid to sit in the front row. It was a win for both parties with celebrity obsessed social media along for the ride.
The clothes also had to entertain. I’m not exactly sure when this shift occurred but by the time I worked at Carolina Herrera in the 2010’s the division was pronounced. Part of the collection was deemed commercial, meaning made to be sold, not shown. Part was referred to as editorial, or made for the show and probably never produced. There was some crossover, but this was a radical change from the days when what was shown on the runway was exactly what was sold in the showroom.
Though I understand the evolution of the fashion show and appreciate a wonderful show ( I’ll provide links to shows I loved to prove I’m not a total downer), I believe the industry could do better. I know how much hard work and long hours go into those scant moments on the runway having worked on many shows. There is so much emotion leading up to a show that I would actually get what I finally recognized as post show depression for a day or two.
Today’s circus-like atmosphere surrounding the shows detract from the professionalism of the industry. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented, hard working people dedicated to their craft. Design staff, tailors, drapers, cutters and sewers who cared about their work and strove for perfection. These are the unsung heroes of the industry. They have an impossibly heavy workload and little job security but most do it for the love. Collectively, this dedicated community of people create beauty and gain satisfaction from that. This is the heart and soul of the luxury market, often overshadowed by the noise and sheer volume of product that is shown.
Big names give weight and meaning to the week of shows. Notably absent from the CFDA’s Fashion Week calendar are some of New York’s most prestigious houses. The Row already showed their Spring 25 collection this past June in Paris. Ralph Lauren is showing on September 5th in the Hamptons. Thom Browne, who built his name on highly conceptualized shows and is the current chairman of the CFDA, could have added considerable weight to the week had he decided to show in New York. I understand a brand’s desire to forge their own path on when and where to show, but it is a striking vote of no confidence for fashion week in New York that perhaps the industry or organizations such as The CFDA should address.
Nurturing new talent is also crucial to New York's place as a fashion capital. There’s no shortage of talent but not every emerging brand is ready for prime time with a show. So much emphasis is put on the buzz potential of a fashion show that many small brands place too much emphasis on the show before perfecting their skills, honing their message and actually building a viable business. Perhaps the industry could do more to raise the bar on who is included on the official calendar and better support those who do the hard work, exhibit a clear point of view and present in a professional way.
The fashion press could be instrumental in refocusing the attention back to the clothes and away from the shiny objects surrounding the shows or perched in the front row. Back to my olden days’ recollections; after a show we would have to wait until the next day to read the review in Women’s Wear Daily and The New York Times. The entire design team would hunch around the paper hoping for a good review and dreading a bad review. My point is then you actually did get reviewed. Even the biggest names were not given a free pass. If there was a blunder on the runway they would be called out on it. Now reviews are mainly fluff pieces with a little back story, who was there and light reportage on what was presented on the runway. Rarely do I see meaningful criticism. The big names have immunity due to the gigantic advertising budgets their parent company wields over the same publications reporting on them.
Designers, regardless of level, should be held to a high standard. Some of what is shown on the runways brings to mind the fable “The Emperor's New Clothes” with poorly made and ill-conceived collections given a pat on the back and a participation medal. I know that sounds harsh but this is an industry of professionals and standards ought to be upheld.
All that said, I will be looking at the shows and reporting to you what I deem noteworthy. Everything is cyclical, let's hope Fortuna’s wheel is on the rise for New York Fashion week.
As always I welcome your comments and thank you for reading!
Jolain
Loved this, as usual. I think the problem is that now fashion is too much of a business. Who takes decisions are now business owners with often zero understanding of the fashion world and its creative processes. Brands like Valentino are a good example of balance though, the team behind the creation of the clothes is cherished and shown often, we know names and we recognise some faces, being still one of the most prolific Kering brands!
So true and also so sad. And no, I'm not nostalgic.
We are still in Italy at the moment, doing the rounds of the fashion hotspots. It's shocking. In all shops 80% of the stores are filled with accessories. Clothes are an afterthought, displayed somewhere at the back of the stores. With the exception of a few unique, eye-catching pieces, the look mass-produced, badly finished, and terribly overpriced.
We talk to the sales staff. Some, mainly older staff, feel embarrassed. Fashion used to be about collections. They had a role to play in assisting customers finding the right outfit. Now it's about selling a single accessory.
Others, mainly younger ones, find this standard practice. One girl at a LV store was proud to say that the women's clothing was on the second floor, so that she could have more time to take clients through the entire accessory collection on the way up.
Louis Vuitton equals Walmart in customer manipulation.
It won't last. There's only so many bags you can buy in a season/year/lifetime.
We just don't know what's going to come next in luxury fashion. From experience we know that people are prepared to pay for quality. So true luxury fashion should be safe.
The problem is that fewer of the younger people understand true quality.