fashionologie

Are Designers Going for Smaller Shows, Thanks to Tom Ford?

fashionologie — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:53:24 PST

>> Since her collection's inception, Victoria Beckham has hosted her fashion show presentations in intimate settings, narrating each look. Same goes for L'Wren Scott, who has for many seasons kept her presentations intimate enough to simultaneously serve a lunch. And over a year ago, Marc Jacobs downsized his fashion show invites from 1,400 to 500. But after Tom Ford trumpeted the merits of an intimate show last fashion week, some think a change toward smaller shows is in the air.

“He [Ford] shook up the industry,” said Paul Wilmot, a fashion publicist whose firm handles the Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass shows. “And if somebody says they weren’t influenced, that would be a lie.” James Laforce, who handles shows like Vena Cava, notes: “I’ve heard plenty of people saying, ‘Let’s do a Tom Ford kind of thing.’ They are asking themselves, ‘Is more really more, or is more watering down our influence?’” And KCD's Ed Filipowski, who produces shows for Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, and Jacobs, agrees: “Intimate is a word that’s definitely in the air."

It's true: a spokesman for IMG, which produces the Lincoln Center shows, says that there has been an increased demand for the smaller Lincoln Center venues like the Box, at 250 seats, and the Studio, which seats 500.

Altuzarra has invited a third fewer guests than last season - less than 300. “In this day and age when there are so many shows, everything gets so much coverage through live streaming, Twitter and the blogs,” Coline Choay, the label's director of publicity and marketing, notes. “You want to make the live show experience special . . . Intimacy, exclusivity and a chance to see the clothes: those are our priorities. We like exposure, but we want a more controlled exposure.”

However, in some cases, the move to intimacy could be a more amenable front for financial constraints. Publicist Vanessa von Bismarck, who handles shows for the likes of Edun, Erin Fetherston, and Suno, says that financial pressures caused some of her clients to go for a smaller production: "They just don’t have the money to put on a big show.” And as Filipowski pointed out: “In reality, we’re not seeing big changes in the size of the shows.”

MAC & Milk Expanding Venue Offering for Fall 2011, Rumored To Be in Talks with IMG About Future Seasons

fashionologie — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:39:10 PST

>> MAC & Milk, the downtown centralized New York Fashion Week venue alternative to Lincoln Center, is expanding its venue offering as it heads into its fourth season. Until this season, all shows have been centralized in the Milk Studios building, but through a partnership with The Standard Hotel, MAC & Milk will have a satellite venue at the hotel's High Line Room in the Meatpacking District, set to be used by up and coming designer labels like Study NY, Bensoni, and Honor.

“We have a new lineup with some new designers, as well as a satellite operation at the Standard Hotel for presentations and shows, including some new emerging designers, which is a new dimension,” John Demsey, group president of Estee Lauder and MAC, said. “We have expanded the geographical territory of using the Meatpacking District.” Mazdack Rassi, creative director of Milk Studios, added: “It’s a community idea as well."

MAC & Milk is working on 20 Lincoln Center shows, 39 staged at MAC & Milk, and 32 off-site shows in total for the Fall 2011 season. And there may be even more big changes by next season - IMG Fashion, which currently has a five year contract to host Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, is rumored to be in talks with MAC & Milk about a partnership that would see IMG help run MAC & Milk in future seasons. Both MAC & Milk and IMG declined comment on the matter.

fashionologie — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:28:52 PDT

>> IMG Fashion Settles New York Fashion Week Union Dispute - Picket lines during New York Fashion Week - from the Lincoln Center stagehands union, anyway - have been avoided. IMG Fashion, which produces the shows at Lincoln Center, and the union have settled their labor dispute. Both parties released a statement today confirming their agreement: “The agreement, which runs through the February 2013 event, will ensure IMG Fashion’s ability to present this premier event using world class talent from the New York theatrical industry. We are pleased with the outcome and will continue to coordinate efforts as the event gets underway in September." [WWD]

New Check-In Technology May Keep New York Fashion Week Gate Crashers at Bay

fashionologie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:15:38 PDT

>> Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Lincoln Center’s new fashion director, wasn't kidding when she said there will be no crashers at this year's New York Fashion Week. This season, instead of sending out paper fashion show invitations that require check-in with publicists at the show doors like seasons past, designers will instead send email invitations with bar coded confirmations ahead of time, so attendees can check in and receive their seating assignments from airport-style kiosks at the venue.

Marc Jacobs has used the system in seasons past »

IMG Fashion, Lincoln Center Caught Up in New York Fashion Week Union Dispute

fashionologie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:48:29 PDT

>> New York Fashion Week could be picketed, and not by PETA. The first season at Lincoln Center could be marred if a dispute between IMG Fashion, which produces Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and the union which oversees much of the stagehand and theatrical labor at the performing arts complex is not resolved before Sept. 9, when the shows begin.

The disagreement is centered on the locations IMG plans to erect the Fashion Week tents; a contract between the union and Lincoln Center gives the union jurisdiction for certain locations on the performing arts center's campus, but not in Damrosch Park, where the tents are supposed to be pitched. But according to the union's president, contracts are typically awarded to the union for similar events, and based on that precedent, the union believes IMG should be required to hire union labor for all Fashion Week events. The union was supposed to hold an emergency meeting this morning to discuss their options, and is considering setting up a picket line.

IMG addresses the situation »

Alexander Wang, Gareth Pugh, and More Are Scooping Up Chance to Show at MAC and Milk's Free New York Fashion Week Venue

fashionologie — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:31:12 PDT

>> Soon after Maybelline announced it would be be taking over from five-year Bryant Park cosmetics sponsor MAC, MAC - presumedly, as New York Times' Eric Wilson put it, tired of having to share "a rather circuslike stage with other sponsors who were competing for attention, sometimes including makers of doughnuts, cameras, toilets and Big Macs" - announced that it would be producing the tentatively-titled MAC and Milk Fashion Week with Milk Studios at the same time as the traditional New York Fashion Week.

The event can be seen as either a complement or a competitor to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, but on the record, anyway, there seem to be no hard feelings. Milk Studios founder Mazdack Rassi says of the initiative: "This week is not an alternative show space, it's a way of cultivating designers and helping them come up with new ways of selling their clothes." And Zach Eichman, a VP of IMG Fashion, which produces the shows at Bryant Park, told the New York Times last week the company welcomed the MAC and Milk event and that bus service between shows would be available when possible. “We can’t do every show in the tents. We hope they will be successful.”

Alexander Wang will be there, so will Preen »

Starting September 2010, Damrosch Park Is the New Bryant Park

fashionologie — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:15:05 PST

>> Mayor Bloomberg has confirmed the reports from yesterday - after IMG's contract with the Bryant Park Corporation runs out in February 2010, Fashion Week will move to Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park beginning in September 2010.

The new venue will provide about 87,000 square feet of space for the shows, compared to the roughly 70,000 square feet available at Bryant Park, as well as more green spaces where "guests will be able to linger and enjoy any number of dining facilities at various price points," and access to Lincoln Center's "iconic indoor locations to be used for special events during the shows."

But Anna Wintour may not approve »

New York Fashion Week to Lincoln Center in 2010

fashionologie — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:49:56 PST

>> So long, Bryant Park. After fifteen years of tents, Bryant Park will no longer be host to New York Fashion Week; starting in 2010, the event is supposed to move to Lincoln Center, according to two designers who typically show in the tents. Fashion week organizers IMG and the CFDA are expected to make the official announcement Tuesday.

It is not clear whether IMG, which pays $1 million to $1.5 million to use the space in Bryant Park each season, will recreate the tents at Lincoln Center, or if nearby building will be used for additional space - a feasibility study done in 2006 suggested placing tents on opposite sides of the New York State Theater, meaning guests would have to walk the equivalent of a city block between them.

A new location for Fashion Week has been an issue particularly since 2006, when Bryant Park Corporation announced it would no longer allow shows in the park, since they were interfering with the Winter skating rink and late Summer public use of the lawn. Anna Wintour asked Mayor Bloomberg to intercede, allowing Bryant Park to remain the central location through February 2010, after which a new location would be needed.
*image: source

IMG Parts Ways with LA Fashion Week

fashionologie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:36:47 PDT

>> After over a month of rumors, Smashbox Studios finally confirmed that it was ending its five year partnership with IMG after Spring 2009 LA Fashion Week closes Oct. 16.

Dean and Davis Factor, co-owners of Smashbox, the current LAFW venue, wanted to relocate the event closer to Hollywood, "take it to the next level," but "New York is [IMG's] big focus and it’s difficult with everything they have going on all over the world. It would be hard for them to do LA on the level they do New York. My brother and I can."

So where does that leave LA Fashion Week? As part of its agreement with the Factors, IMG is not able to produce a Fashion Week, so it's all up to the brothers, who say they remain committed to the event. Ideally, they're looking at Hollywood rather than the current Culver City location: "Hollywood embraces the city of Los Angeles, there’s so much creative stuff to take advantage of here, the red carpet, costume design, stylists, everything from the surf industry to Maxfield’s."

But it may not be in the same runway show form: "We’re going a completely different route." Will all the new changes be effective in harnessing a spot as the fifth major Fashion Week? The Factors have their work cut out for them.
*image: source

Is Los Angeles Fashion Week a Dying Breed?

fashionologie — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:47:39 PDT

>> In the past few years, our attention has been on New York Fashion Week and where it will move after the Bryant Park lease runs out in 2010, but new revelations about the future of Los Angeles Fashion Week bring it temporarily to the forefront.

Sources told Los Angeles magazine that the five-year LA Fashion Week partnership between IMG, who also runs NY Fashion Week, and Smashbox Studios in Culver City, where LA Fashion Week is held, will end after the Spring 2009 presentations in October. When asked for comment, an IMG spokesperson merely said: "The focus of IMG and Smashbox continues to be the October shows and we won’t comment further on what is currently only rumor and speculation."

If IMG does pull out, ownership of LA Fashion Week would be up for grabs — Smashbox Studio owners Dean and Davis Factor could go it alone or look for a new partnership. Several options have been suggested, not in the least of which involves moving the shows to Hollywood. But as Racked LA puts it, "The truth is the application of the NY Fashion Week structure on LA has never quite worked. Let's hope this is an opportunity for improvement and finding a platform that works for the city's designers."
*image: source