NEW YORK — The action at Bryant Park will only be a mouse click away starting with the Kenneth Cole show on Friday to kick off Olympus Fashion Week.
The runway shows will be streamed live on the Internet so that browsers worldwide will be able to get a virtual front-row seat to the Bryant Park brouhaha.
Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth and vice president of IMG, said Ted Forstmann, IMG’s chairman and chief executive officer, identified new media as a key growth opportunity for the global sports, entertainment and media company. For the first time, IMG Fashion is collaborating with IMG Media, and the divisions are creating live Web casts of the shows in the tents at IMGfashionworld.com. Hours after a show takes place, it will be available through MSNvideo.com. B Productions will be responsible for the taping of the runway shows.
MSN Video will have features such as profiles of designers, backstage interviews, and front-row action hosted by Kelly Bensimon, editor in chief of Elle Accessories. MSN Video will also have a video feature on the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
IMG is also teaming up with Sprint Wireless, and will bring small designer features, runway snippets and other highlights on demand to those fashion fans with multimedia Sprint cell phones.
These features will be offered free of charge. The new distribution systems are in addition to other television coverage, such as cable’s “Full Frontal Fashion.”
“This is all just additional platforms and more opportunities, and reaching more people on any kind of day,” Mallis said. “We want to promote the industry as much as possible and get these names out. For those who never get into the tents, this will be the next best thing.”
Those who recall Julia Roberts’ character in Robert Altman’s movie “Ready-to-Wear,” who wrote show reviews based on television coverage, might wonder whether some could use these features as a perfect excuse to avoid the show frenzy and watch in private comfort. Mallis, however, doesn’t expect that to happen. “In our industry, nothing takes the place of seeing the clothes live,” she said.
Asked whether she contemplated that this could help apparel counterfeiters around the world, Mallis said: “I think that that’s not an issue anymore. With media being so fast now … people can get on Web sites and see collections instantly. This is really about the entertainment value and the energy and buzz of it.”
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There could be a snag if the shows start late, but Mallis said the waiting time could serve as another opportunity to show designer interviews and segments on the front row or backstage action.