The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) chairman Tom Ford announced in January that the organization would not be publishing its traditional New York Fashion Week schedule and instead will launch an “American Collections Calendar”. However, at the time, Ford did not mention the other parts of New York Fashion Week that would be available this year.
New York Fashion Week has been a premiere showcase for American designers; however, in recent years many artists have decided to put their creations in other shows. The fact that New York Fashion Week is returning during the coronavirus pandemic shows that the organization is taken the event seriously, wants to re-connect with its audience, and continue to attract some of the best artists in the world for showcasing their designs at the event.
While New York Fashion Week is known for its highly creative live shows, during the pandemic many creatives have decided to showcase their work through the medium of short film in order to be in compliance with coronavirus restrictions.
New York Fashion Week began on Sunday, and will be a good opportunity for emerging designers to showcase their work. Many of the major designers decided not to showcase theirs designs this year including Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Calvin Klein. Since these established brands will not be present, it is the perfect opportunity for up-in-coming designers to get their works shown to fans of the event.
In a statement published at the end of January, Ford, who is also head of his own label, wrote: “Wherever or however American designers choose to show their collections, it is our job as the CFDA to honor our original mission statement and to help promote and support American fashion. Therefore, we will publish on the schedule not only the schedule of designers showing in New York during New York Fashion Week but also those of American designers showing off calendar and abroad.”
Ford has tried to expand New York Fashion Week over the last few years. He would like to see New York Fashion Week events taking place simultaneously in other cities within the U.S. and countries around the world in order to give designers a larger platform for showcasing their work. His first attempt at doing so was him producing a New York Fashion Week event live in Hollywood.
However, some artists over the last year, due to the pandemic has opted to showcase their works in other locations. Gabriela Hearst, who launched her brand in New York, decided to showcase her new designs in Paris last year instead of at a New York Fashion Week event. She stated, “one of our biggest carbon producers was the transport of our collections, the majority of which is made in Italy,” and the showing in Paris: “it is always a dream for any designer to show in Paris. This is the time for us to manifest this dream.”
Even though it will mostly be virtual this year, the return of New York Fashion Week is a good sign for the arts and cultural districts of New York. This news, along with the reduction of the spread of coronavirus throughout many states within the U.S. is a sign of hope (backed by science) that the arts will be making a big comeback in New York and around the country.