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
Marchesa RTW Spring 2016
"A botanical menagerie of caged birds" inspired Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig's frothy, feminine lineup…
DKNY RTW Spring 2016
Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne offered the first glimpse of their vision for DKNY — and delivered sharp…
Nanette Lepore RTW Spring 2016
Nanette Lepore threw a party for spring 2016 and she made quite a statement about it.
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Boss RTW Spring 2016
Jason Wu infused classic Boss tailoring with a minimal softness via gauzy layering and fringe details.
Naeem Khan RTW Spring 2016
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Delpozo RTW Spring 2016
In a breathtaking collection for Delpozo, Josep Font made inventive work of two inspirations: Federico García…
Rachel Antonoff RTW Spring 2016
Birding-meets-"Troop Beverly Hills" was the inspiration for Rachel Antonoff's lineup, with camp uniform looks…
Tenby RTW Spring 2016
Tenby, a new collection by former Project Runway contestant Kara Janx, focused heavily on lace eveningwear…
Suno RTW Spring 2016
Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty took their cues from American folk art prints, mixed with military-inspired…
Veronica Beard RTW Spring 2016
Veronica Beard's collection fused tailored American sportswear silhouettes with a Latin sensuality.
Michael Kors RTW Spring 2016
Michael Kors gave voice to his earthy side in a collection that played flower-centric fluidity against…
Carmen Marc Valvo RTW Spring 2016
Carmen Marc Valvo took a Zen approach to spring, showing day, evening and swimwear looks in a mostly black…
Blue Les Copains RTW Spring 2016
As Blue Les Copains made its second New York Fashion Week presentation, the Bologna, Italy-based brand’s…
Simon Miller RTW Spring 2016
Design duo Jack Sargent and Daniel Corrigan debuted their women's collection, inspired by the American…