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Fashion Week
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Published: January 10, 2007
Despite the frenzy and mayhem ensuing in Manhattan and London (among other world cities), Fashion Week is an exciting time for everyone involved. It offers designers the chance to promote and showcase their new designs, brings in large amounts of revenue for the cities in which they are hosted and offers mere mortals the chance to experience the frenetic pace of the fashion world.
Fashion shows began in America during the turn of the century, when department stores would host shows featuring women parading around in the newest fashions from Paris. These shows served a double purpose: they promoted new merchandise and ranked stores in terms of who carried the latest couture fashions and who did not. Department store fashion shows soon became popular, drawing many fashion enthusiasts to New York City in search of new couture.
So where did Fashion Week come from? The idea of hosting an annual fashion show in America resulted from the German invasion of France in World War II. If France was in ruins, who would be there to lead the world of fashion?
One woman – fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert – felt America could hold in its own in leading the world of fashion. She invented Press Week, a show which gave editors, journalists and fashion mavens the chance to see American designers. Press Week – which ran from 1943 throughout the 1950s – became immensely popular, with shows held at either the Pierre or the Plaza Hotels in New York.
Fashion Week as it is known today, made its way to Bryant Park in New York City because of some rather curious complications. In the 1970s and 1980s, designers held fashion shows in lofts, clubs and restaurants. Problems inevitably occurred. At one show in a loft, pieces of plaster fell onto models and attendees. At another loft show, generators blew out, leaving thousands of people in the dark. According to Fern Mallis, vice president of IMG, the company responsible for producing Fashion Week, these accidents were catalysts for designers to find larger, safer venues for their fashion shows. In fact, it was Mallis who took it upon herself to find a venue, eventually designing a plan to put tents up in Bryant Park. New spring collections were unveiled in this venue in 1994.
Fashion Week is held twice a year, in February and September. Designers promote their Fall/Winter designs in February, while promoting their Spring/Summer collections in September. Fashion Week is the most important period for designers. During this time, they have the chance to showcase their new designs, establishing new trends and thereby getting ahead of the fashion pack.
In Bryant Park, where the show is now held, the area is covered with tents. These huge tents contain many individual venues – each up to areas of 12,000 feet – and are equipped with air-conditioning, lighting, runways and seating areas for attendees, as well as backstage space.
While not as lauded as New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week still offers a platform with which to promote the best British fashion designers. The Natural History Museum hosts the bi-annual event, which also features tented fashion arenas.
London Fashion Week is much smaller than its American counterpart, but has grown substantially each year. According to the British Fashion Council – London Fashion Week’s hosts – it has grown from 50 designers in 1994 to 170 designers for the 2006/07 season. In addition, since more British designers recognize wearability over innovation, revenues have increased as well. Sales, which were estimated at $126 million 15 years ago, reached $1.3 billion in 2004.
Sources:
“At London Fashion Week, Best of Britain.” 14 February 2004. Associated Press. 13 October 2006. < http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-02-17- london-fashion-week_x.htm/>
Fortini, Amanda. “How the Runway Took Off.” 8 February 2006. Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC. 13 October 2006. http://www.slate.com/id/2135561/
Kusta, Elizabeth. “Runways ready for London Fashion Week.” 13 February 2006. The New York Times Company. 13 October 2006. http://boston.com/yourlife/fashion/.../runways_rea dy_for_london_fashion_week/
Nellis, Cynthia. “New York Fashion Week.” About, Inc. 13 October 2006. http://fashion.about.com/fashionweek/p/nyfashionwe ek.htm/
Fashion shows began in America during the turn of the century, when department stores would host shows featuring women parading around in the newest fashions from Paris. These shows served a double purpose: they promoted new merchandise and ranked stores in terms of who carried the latest couture fashions and who did not. Department store fashion shows soon became popular, drawing many fashion enthusiasts to New York City in search of new couture.
So where did Fashion Week come from? The idea of hosting an annual fashion show in America resulted from the German invasion of France in World War II. If France was in ruins, who would be there to lead the world of fashion?
One woman – fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert – felt America could hold in its own in leading the world of fashion. She invented Press Week, a show which gave editors, journalists and fashion mavens the chance to see American designers. Press Week – which ran from 1943 throughout the 1950s – became immensely popular, with shows held at either the Pierre or the Plaza Hotels in New York.
Fashion Week as it is known today, made its way to Bryant Park in New York City because of some rather curious complications. In the 1970s and 1980s, designers held fashion shows in lofts, clubs and restaurants. Problems inevitably occurred. At one show in a loft, pieces of plaster fell onto models and attendees. At another loft show, generators blew out, leaving thousands of people in the dark. According to Fern Mallis, vice president of IMG, the company responsible for producing Fashion Week, these accidents were catalysts for designers to find larger, safer venues for their fashion shows. In fact, it was Mallis who took it upon herself to find a venue, eventually designing a plan to put tents up in Bryant Park. New spring collections were unveiled in this venue in 1994.
Fashion Week is held twice a year, in February and September. Designers promote their Fall/Winter designs in February, while promoting their Spring/Summer collections in September. Fashion Week is the most important period for designers. During this time, they have the chance to showcase their new designs, establishing new trends and thereby getting ahead of the fashion pack.
In Bryant Park, where the show is now held, the area is covered with tents. These huge tents contain many individual venues – each up to areas of 12,000 feet – and are equipped with air-conditioning, lighting, runways and seating areas for attendees, as well as backstage space.
While not as lauded as New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week still offers a platform with which to promote the best British fashion designers. The Natural History Museum hosts the bi-annual event, which also features tented fashion arenas.
London Fashion Week is much smaller than its American counterpart, but has grown substantially each year. According to the British Fashion Council – London Fashion Week’s hosts – it has grown from 50 designers in 1994 to 170 designers for the 2006/07 season. In addition, since more British designers recognize wearability over innovation, revenues have increased as well. Sales, which were estimated at $126 million 15 years ago, reached $1.3 billion in 2004.
Sources:
“At London Fashion Week, Best of Britain.” 14 February 2004. Associated Press. 13 October 2006. < http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-02-17- london-fashion-week_x.htm/>
Fortini, Amanda. “How the Runway Took Off.” 8 February 2006. Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC. 13 October 2006. http://www.slate.com/id/2135561/
Kusta, Elizabeth. “Runways ready for London Fashion Week.” 13 February 2006. The New York Times Company. 13 October 2006. http://boston.com/yourlife/fashion/.../runways_rea dy_for_london_fashion_week/
Nellis, Cynthia. “New York Fashion Week.” About, Inc. 13 October 2006. http://fashion.about.com/fashionweek/p/nyfashionwe ek.htm/
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