In just a few weeks, the fashion industry will be descending on Lincoln Center to view the Autumn/Winter collections for 2011. While big name designers get most of the news, smaller local labels will be presenting as well. From February 10th to the 17th, everyone who is anyone will be on the lookout for the next Suno or Mandy Coon, two New York based labels that are making it big.
Fashion Week, as it's known now, was the baby of former IMG vice-president Fern Mallis, who started the tent showings in Bryant Park in 1997. The idea of a central location and pool of designer show info was too good to resist, and Fashion Week took on a monolithic life of it's own. The couture collections had always shown seasonally in Europe, but now New York had a way of luring everyone to the Big Apple. Formerly the domain of the bigger magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, in recent times the tents have withstood the onslaught of bloggers like Bryan Boy and Tavi Gevinson invading the front rows and being seated next to the likes of Anna Wintour.
Locations outside of the tent complex have made getting to shows something like a video game, as writers, photographers, and models scramble for exits in order the grab the next subway to a far-flung show. If you are lucky to have a day full of invitations, you might start at Lincoln Center uptown, then fly as quickly as possible to Milk Studios on West 15th, or to Grand Central Station, which is where 90's model turned designer Lois Samuels showed her Spring/Summer 2011 collection for her line, the Vessel.by lois. Check in could take a few minutes, but more likely you will wait in a crowd to have your invite scanned or credentials checked before being seated or left to wander through a styled presentation of clothing. Hotels like the Jane near Industria Studios is also a popular spot.
The difference between a show and a presentation is that a fashion show is the traditional set-up where models parade up and down a runway in front of seated (or standing, if you are not deemed worthy of seat status) fashion cognoscenti. Photographers station themselves at the end of the runway for the best shots, and models pause and pose there obligingly. A presentation is when models are posed throughout a space showing the clothing. Last year designers such as Timo Weiland and Candela created tableaus that showed off the clothes and also referenced their inspirations. A presentation is somewhat more informal,and can get the designer more exposure since the clothes are being shown for a longer period of time. But you will get jostled by photographers, especially those from serious news outlets like the New York Times. You can come home to find that the rude man that pushed you was actually taking fantastic photographs seen worldwide.
While shows for people like Marc Jacobs, Rodarte can be impossible to get invites to, a smaller newer designer like Katie Gallagher (who has been taken up by Elle's Kate Lanphear) may be more amenable to accomodating independent press. The important thing is to spot up and coming talent so that it can be documented and nurtured. Established designers like Victoria Beckham (who will be making her New York debut this year), bring the most attention to New York Fashion Week, but the bright lights that they shine help to promote new growth.
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