By Simone Robinson
Staff Writer
Take a look at the history of Fashion Week, where thousands of people migrate to the style capitals of the world, including New York, Paris and Milan to get the scoop on the latest runway trends.
According to a TIME article by Erin Skarda, Paris, France was the primary source of fashion for the world before World War II.
Popular magazines like Vogue solely featured Parisian couture designs, which led American fashionistas to scout out the latest fashion from French designers.
During the year of 1943, France was occupied by Germany, making it practically impossible for journalists to enter Paris to attend the popular fashion shows and events.
According to a Vanity Fair article by Amy Collins, Eleanor Lambert, a publicist from New York, saw this as an opportunity to enhance the reputation of American fashion and solidify a position for local couture designers in international fashion. She created a fashion showcase called Press Week, which granted both international and regional media access to the all American fashion showcases.
The first showcase was held at the Plaza in New York City and featured 53 shows.
Despite the fairly low amount of journalist attendants, the event became an instant international success, ultimately, creating history. Publications like The Daily News, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar now boasted of American collections featured at Press Week, and the event continued to take place in different NYC locations, with the number of attendees growing throughout the years.
According to Skarda, when an unfortunate incident occurred at a Michael Kors show involving an injured runway model, Fern Mallis, the director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (founded by Lambert), relaunched Press Week as New York Fashion Week under the tents of Bryant Park in the spring of 1994.
Celebrities, stylists, editors and major sponsors like Mercedes-Benz flocked to the annual event. When the tents of Bryant Park became too small to sustain the massive international crowd, the CFDA and IMG Fashion moved the event to the Lincoln Center, where it’s still held today.
robinsss12@bonaventure.edu
