American Revival: Is This The Rebirth of NYFW?
With the return of live shows, Bazaar’s Deputy Editor Jessica Michault explores how the pandemic has forced both industry and insiders to rethink the status quo in the lead up to what could be one of the most memorable fashion weeks yet…
This month New York Fashion Week has decided to double down on its commitment to celebrate American fashion. After over a year of mostly digital shows and presentations, NYFW is kicking off fashion month with a myriad of in-person events. And with many international press and buyers still staying away from the Big Apple due to continued COVID restrictions, the fashion week has decided to honour its own unique heritage and homegrown talent in a big way.
“New York Fashion Week is back with a diverse lineup representative of the future of American fashion,” Steven Kolb, CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America told Bazaar Arabia. “Our fashion industry has come together as we continue to emerge from the pandemic, and a collaborative spirit is paramount to the success of our creative talents.”
Leading by example, the CFDA has streamlined its own long-standing partnership with IMG by creating a unified Official New York Fashion Week Schedule. The two companies have worked together behind the scenes for years, IMG producing the NYFW: The Shows events, and the CFDA running the all-important Fashion Calendar. But now the pair are more closely knit together and are working hand-in-hand to avoid overlapping events so that every designer on the calendar gets their moment in the spotlight.
Then there is the debut this season of the IMG Fashion Alliance that was created to support 11 American designers so that they will have the means to be able to present during NYFW for the next three seasons. IMG will be giving business side-support to marquee brands like Brandon Maxwell, Prabal Gurung, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, LaQuan Smith, Telfar and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte – thus guaranteeing that these household name brands will all be showing stateside for the next year and a half.
An ensemble from Christopher John Rogers’ autumn/ winter 2020–21 collection that will be part of the In America: A Lexicon of Fashion’ exhibition at the Costume Institute
“The IMG Fashion Alliance was formed with one common objective: celebrate the resilience of New York’s fashion and retail industry as we emerge post-pandemic. There is strength in numbers, and we share and support these designers’ commitment to NYFW as a cornerstone of rebuilding New York’s thriving fashion economy,” stated Leslie Russo, the President of IMG’s Fashion Events and Properties.
There have also been some key changes to the calendar this year. Big name American designers Thom Browne and Joseph Altuzarra have both decided to return to NYFW after having presented in Paris for a number of seasons. And the shows, which run from Wednesday September 8th to Sunday September 12th, will now finish off in style with CFDA Chairman Tom Ford taking the final bow of the season. A spot that, up until now, had been held by Marc Jacobs for decades (this season he decided to show his latest collection in July, outside of the official fashion week). Tom’s show will be followed the next day by the iconic “Fashion Oscars” – aka the Met Gala. The annual fundraising event to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, was pushed from its traditional date on the first Monday in May to coincide with NYFW.
Thom Browne will return to NYFW this season, once again bringing his distinctive style and theatrical presentations to the Big Apple. Here’s a look from his AW21 ready-to-wear collection
And as luck would have it, the theme of this year’s gala dovetails perfectly with NYFW’s rebirth agenda. It will mark the opening of the In America: A Lexicon of Fashion exhibition at the Costume Institute on September 18th, which will explore the visual vocabulary at the heart of American style. The gala will also feature a lineup of high-wattage American co-chairs like Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Naomi Osaka.
This, in fact, is just the first part of a double feature of American focused fashion exhibitions that the Met will be putting on that span 2021 and 2022. The second exhibition will debut on May 5th of next year in the American Wing of the museum. Called In America: An Anthology of Fashion, its goal is to drill down into the history of how fashion developed in the United States and will run in tandem with its Lexicon counterpart until September 5th 2022.
The French-American designer Joseph Altuzarra is returning to his creative roots and will be showing during NYFW after years of presenting his signature line in Paris. Here’s a look from his AW21 ready-to-wear collection
“This year marks the Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary and we wanted to commemorate the occasion with a year-long celebration of American fashion,” explained Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge at The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when he announced the monumental project. “When the Costume Institute was founded in 1946, one of its ambitions was to support the creative efforts of American designers, and for our 75th anniversary we wanted to revisit this ambition, especially after the past year, which has been especially challenging for the fashion community,” he added.
But the Met isn’t the only museum that is extolling Americans’, and New Yorkers in particular, love affair with fashion. Over at The Seaport, an impressive new exhibition dedicated to Bill Cunningham, the late New York Times fashion photographer and the godfather of street style, will debut during NYFW. Bill was a fixture of the New York fashion scene for over half a century. The exhibit, which kicks off on September 12th and spans 18,000 square feet over two floors, will centre on his ability to capture the singular beauty of everyday style on the bustling streets of The City That Never Sleeps. Where everyone, celebrities and nameless New Yorkers alike, were runway models on the concrete catwalk that the photographer called home.
Rihanna in her much-memed 2015 Met Gala gown by designer Guo Pei
Without question, the past year and a half has forced all of the fashion weeks to rethink their status quo fashion show systems. NYFW in particular, even pre-pandemic, had been finding it hard to generate a lot of excitement for its fashion week. Many top houses had begun to opt for off-calendar events that generated more engagement when not competing with other brands showing on the same day or week, while smaller houses started to turn to viral video content rather than costly runway shows. And with the growing direct-to-consumer business model many fashion companies are starting to favour, the need to corral buyers to one location hasn’t been the driving force it once was.
But the CFDA has always been a governing body that has taken pride in continuously rethinking how it operates. Back in 2015, it famously teamed up with the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group to reevaluate the traditional twice-yearly format of New York Fashion Week. Armed with the results of that precinct report, the CFDA was able to quickly and creatively react to the new normal of online-only fashion weeks that have been the industry standard for the past 18 months.
In a major move, fashion designer and CFDA Chairman Tom Ford will take the final bow of the season. Traditionally an honour that has been given to Marc Jacobs
The CFDA swiftly built its Runway 360 platform to host digital shows during the pandemic and going forward, Steven Kolb wants to leverage its online power to continue to support the work being done by designers – be that live shows, augmented reality presentations, or viral videos. There is even an e-commerce element to the site and, according to Steven, it will be providing exclusive access for American Express cardholders to interact directly with designers. Interestingly, the platform, which will be presenting work from over 450 brands, is forgoing a time slot format for each brand to show their collection online this season. Instead it has opted to go with a daily drop approach to publishing content on the site as opposed to the concept of each house having a specific time slot online to premiere their collection. A strategy more in keeping with a traditional real-world fashion show calendar.
To bring into the fold those brands who feel showing outside the official fashion week is the best business model for them, the CFDA has also debuted an overarching American Collections Calendar that encompasses all American designers who show outside of the official NFYW dates. And let’s not forget Tom Ford’s choice to tighten up NYFW to a five-day event, back in 2019. A move that made a trip to NYC more manageable for international press and buyers. Now the real question (or issue) for NYFW, and all of the other fashion weeks for that matter, is the relevance of live fashion shows. “I believe the live show will never go away,” proclaimed Steven. It’s a bold statement, but one that looks to be supported by data compiled by Launchmetrics, the leading fashion analytics and data tech company in the industry.
American designer Prabal Gurung has often used his catwalk as a message vehicle. For example, this look from his SS20 collection, which is now part of the upcoming In America: A Lexicon of Fashion exhibition at the Costume Institute
Over the past two seasons of collections, Launchmetrics found that fashion weeks and in-person fashion shows still have a critical role to play when it comes to amplifying a brand’s awareness and sparking a global ripple effect of engagement. According to the company, the houses that have fared the best are those that took a hybrid approach to their fashion shows, blending a physical element with those that exist only in the virtual space. For example, the SS21 Jason Wu show, which was presented to a limited audience, landed it the top spot of all the NYFW shows in terms of Media Impact Value®* for that season. Generating $3.6 million (Dhs13.2 million) in MIV, more than double the MIV® of Wu’s February show, which chalked up $1.2 million (Dhs4.4 million) in MIV. “Hybrid events should be incorporated into the new normal. Brands who chose a ‘phygital’ campaign fared much better than those who privileged purely physical or digital events,” stated Launchmetics in its report.
NYFW’s recommitment to its particular fashion point of view can only help it to stand out this season. Not to mention American brands are notably clever when it comes to leveraging the wow factor that a celebrity front row and a curated group of invited influencers can bring to a show. They are also especially savvy when it comes to harnessing the power of their owned media, producing unique behind-the-scenes coverage and content that are like catnip for catwalk enthusiasts around the globe.
A series of images by Melanie Schiff of VEIL FLAG, which was created by Sterling Ruby Studio. It is a limited-edition piece designed as a meditation on the American flag. It will be a part of this month’s In America: A Lexicon of Fashion exhibition at the Costume Institute
“This upcoming season of NYFW feels a little like the beginning – when NYFW first started,” reflected Fern Mallis, the woman who created New York Fashion Week. “There is a great deal of pent-up energy and excitement to finally see friends and colleagues and attend a fashion show in person. We think we are in a post-COVID era, but no one is quite sure. Surely the most important fashion accessory to have is a face mask, and proof of vaccinations,” she added.
Between the return of some key top-tier American designers, the addition of the Met Gala, the new IMG Fashion Alliance initiative, the interactive CFDA Runway 360 platform, the tightened, streamlined calendar, and the fashion week’s hometown advantage and access to buzzworthy celebrities and stars, New York Fashion Week looks to be ready for its close up. Or, as Frank Sinatra famously put it, once again become “Top of the list, head of the heap, king of the hill” when it comes to winning the upcoming fashion week marathon.
Images: Getty, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Jason Lloyd Evans. *Media Impact Valuetm (MIV®): Launchmetrics’ Proprietary Machine.
Learning Algorithm provides brands with a unified currency to measure the value of all marketing activities across voices, channels, and markets by assigning a monetary amount to every post, interaction, and article.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia September 2021 issue