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Street style at New York Fashion Week Fall 2024
Street style at New York Fashion Week Sophie Sahara/WWD

New York Fashion Week 

New York Fashion Week in its modern iteration was started by Fern Mallis and Stan Herman in 1993.  

New York Fashion Week kicks off fashion month, and is followed by fashion weeks in London, Milan and Paris in February and September. Spring collections are historically shown in September, while fall collections are historically shown in February. 

New York Fashion Week evolved from Press Week, which began in the '40s. Eleanor Lambert founded Press Week to showcase American fashion during World War II when editors couldn't travel to Europe. The event helped promote American fashion when many major European fashion houses were on hiatus during the war. 

Press Week went on for decades. Then in 1993, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) took over the event, and then-president Stan Herman and executive director Fern Mallis consolidated the citywide events into what became known as New York Fashion Week. It was initially rebranded with the trademark "7th on Sixth." 

Throughout the '90s and 2000s, New York Fashion Week was held at Bryant Park in pop-up tents. In 2011, New York Fashion Week left Bryant Park and migrated to Lincoln Center. In 2015, after New York Fashion Week's organizer WME/IMG's contract with Lincoln Center ended, the event was split between Skylight Moynihan and Skylight Clarkson. After Moynihan underwent construction for Penn Station to expand in 2017, Clarkson was the primary venue until 2018. From 2019 until the present, Spring Studios has been the main venue for New York Fashion Week, though a large percentage of designers choose to show off site. 

Major American designers have made their runway debuts at New York Fashion Week, including Michael Kors, Christian Siriano, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Prabal Gurung and Anna Sui.  

The event has seen some historic fashion moments, such as Ralph Lauren's 50th anniversary show in 2018, when he transformed Central Park's Bethesda Terrace into a runway, drawing everyone from Hillary Clinton to Oprah to watch. There was Marc Jacobs' show for Perry Ellis in 1993, which many saw as the birth of '90s grunge. The show ultimately got Jacobs fired, but the pieces were so popular he reissued them in 2019. In 2000, Alexander McQueen hopped Stateside for a collection he showed on the West Side of Manhattan, famously dropping his jeans at the end of the show to reveal American flag boxer shorts. 

New York Fashion Week

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Thomas Wylde RTW Spring 2016

Los Angeles-based Thomas Wylde pushed its rock 'n' roll-infused aesthetic in a more modern direction for…

RVN RTW Spring 2016

RVN designer Ted Kim showed his graphic jacquard knitwear at New York Fashion Week for the first time.

Visvim RTW Spring 2016

Men's wear and women's wear label Visvim took its Japanese pop culture heritage and mixed in a little Wild…

Marc Jacobs RTW Spring 2016

Marc Jacobs staged an over-the-top extravaganza at the Ziegfeld Theater to close the New York Collections. It…

M.Patmos RTW Spring 2016

Marcia Patmos took a trip to Cuba for spring, diverting a bit from her usual cozy, neutral-hued territory.

J.Mendel RTW Spring 2016

Gilles Mendel had just the right touch with his graphic-print chiffon gowns, done in feminine tiers…

Marchesa Notte RTW Spring 2016

Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig's secondary line had a botanical bird theme, mixing a sweet, floral…

IMG’s Catherine Bennett Soldiers Along

The executive broke her back horseback riding.

New Yorkers For Children Throws Fall Gala

Wes Gordon, Marcus Samuelsson, Georgina Bloomberg and Alina Cho came out to support New Yorkers For Children…

Calvin Klein Collection RTW Spring 2016

Oversize, deconstructed with a tinge of grunge, Francisco Costa's spring Calvin Klein collection displayed…