NEW COAT, NEW YORK

The Lincoln Center underwent a bloodletting of designers. Big names such as Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Tracy Reese, and Michael Kors decided to show someplace else. In a deserted office building, for example, or an out-of-the-way armoury. This was more in line with what the designers had envisioned, though it meant having to make hard choices. The shows were all over town and if you wanted to see one, you had to miss the other.

During the second world war it was impossible for Americans to travel to Paris for the biannual fashion weeks. Fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert decided to organise a New York Fashion Week in 1943. Buyers weren’t allowed to come, they just had to go to the showrooms. It became an instant success as a result of which US Vogue increasingly used American designers in their magazine.

This feeling of exclusivity lessened over the years. Marketing agency International Management Group bought fashion week, relocated fashion week from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center, with Mercedes-Benz making sure the event could take place in every fashion city (even in Amsterdam). The organisation rented out the lobby because the production of all the shows cost so much money. Forcing you to do your best not to trip over the many merchandise and commercial activities in the lobby.

IMG decided to change it all up. Bloggers aren’t invited that easily anymore, there will be digital fashion shows, more space to show in, more space back stage, and more VIP sections. It was enough to persuade Carolina Herrera to show at Lincoln center, and Diane von Furstenberg wants to locate her runway somewhere else this season, but intends on coming back the season after. The rest is less prone on returning. A typical case or too little, too late?