Fern Mallis says Fashion Week ‘came back with a bang’

Fern Mallis, the original mastermind behind New York Fashion Week, says she’s back, baby, after a slowdown during the pandemic.

Or “back to normal” as she puts it.

“It’s Fashion Week with a vengeance. There are so many shows, activities, parties and dinners,” Mallis told us at a FIT Couture Council luncheon honoring Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri on Wednesday. “That’s crazy! Actually, it’s almost too much.”

“The energy and enthusiasm is great,” says Mallis. “I think people are very happy to be back. It’s back to school. Everyone is here, lots of air kissing and no masks. People feel great.”

“For the most part, everything is decentralized,” Mallis says, comparing it to the old days, when almost every show was in one place known as the tents.

NYFW has had several slow seasons due to the pandemic.Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

“It’s almost impossible to get from one show to another because of the traffic,” he says. “And there are so many really great things, competing on the same schedule. You have to play God and make decisions.”

Mallis is currently working with Peaceable Assembly’s Jonathan Gray to turn his “Fashion Icons” books, which include pieces on the likes of Bob Mackie and Victoria Beckham, into a streaming series featuring clips from his long-running interview series 92Y.

Mallis, pictured here with Julianne Moore, is working to turn her interviews with fashion superstars into a broadcast series. Getty Images for Live Rocket

Also at the FIT Couture Council at Lincoln Center were Candace Bushnell, Gillian Miniter, Elyse Newhouse, Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Samira Nasr, Pete Nordstrom and Francisco Costa.

Source: news.google.com