New York Fashion Week Fall 2015???
Ever since Mercedes Benz Fashion Week set up shop at Lincoln Center, NY Fashion Week has become nothing short of a spectacle with the drama outside the tents often overshadowing the shows. And by drama I don't mean the excessive peacocking that occurs on the outdoor promenade (although that is a big part of it). What I'm referring to are the constant stream of complaints that seem to mark each season, not the least of which come from top editors regarding overcrowding and commercialization. Unfortunately, industry complaints were never the worst of it.
From it's very debut at Lincoln Center, NY Fashion Week has been marked by surprisingly elitist resident complaints towards an industry that is, in and of itself, elitist. Grievances about noise and smells coming from diesel generators and the loss of public space to fashion riff raff such as bloggers and photographers compounded each season, resulting in the inevitable lawsuit and a judgment to vacate after February 2015. Now, with the Spring shows right around the corner and a new home yet to be found (or at least announced), the buzz surrounding the shows is sure to center around where it will be hosted come Fall.
Personally, with the exception of The Jacob Javitz Center, I can't think of any location in the city that can handle the type of crowds that draw NY Fashion Week. The idea may seem distasteful to most as the Javitz Center screams plebeian with it's autoshows and business conferences, but then maybe it's time to accept the fact that Fashion Week is no longer the elite and exclusive brand it once was. If anyone has any doubts to this, they need only to look to the opera and ballet crowd who rejected it so heartily that it lasted a mere 4 years at Lincoln Center.
Maybe it's time to acknowledge that NY Fashion Week became commercial the moment they made McDonalds a sponsor back in the Bryant Park days. From that pivotal point on, followed by the selling of seats by American Express a few seasons later, it has been a constant battle to balance the money of commercial sponsors and the exclusivity of the runway. I think it's time to raise the white flag and accept that commercialism has won out. The democratization of fashion is all but complete. And maybe that's okay.
