This is why we care about New York City fashion
New York City. Photo by Redd on Unsplash
New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is a highly influential event in the fashion industry, particularly in the United States, that happens twice a year in February and September. Founded in 1943, the event was established to highlight American fashion designers in a way previously not done. From its origin, the event gained traction through the press. The press could make or break the success of a fashion designer.
As NYFW shifted its attention from selling clothing to selling a lifestyle, it gained more and more success. NYFW used to draw attention from the press, yet its evolution led the public to be more interested in attending events. Today, NYFW is a source of entertainment for the general public, and inspires many fashion designers, putting eyes on New York City. In this paper, I will argue that NYFW is what established and maintained New York City as the epicenter for the fashion industry in the United States.
The United States held no true identity in the world of fashion. Before World War II, the fashion industry in the U.S. was mainly interested in Paris, France. People who could afford the luxury would import fashion from Paris. Those within the fashion industry, including American retailers and press, would travel to Paris semiannually to be updated on recent trends in fashion. The fashion industry in the United States was composed of American seamstresses who would use patterns sold by or pirated from fashion designers in Paris to make garments to sell to the American market. American fashion designers were not known as they are today.
To the public, and even the press, there was a blurred line between retailers, manufacturers, designers, and seamstresses. Since these designers were generally seamstresses for larger manufacturing companies, labels crediting American designers were very rare. The name that would appear on the label would be that of the manufacturer. For this reason, when reporting on designs in the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the New York Times struggled to cite most of the fashion designers. In the end, they improperly credited the vast majority of designers. Even within the fashion industry, people had no true sense of what American designers were shaping U.S. fashion, and this lack of innovation kept Paris as the reference point for American fashion.
Located by a major port, New York City imported luxurious fabrics. Given its location and access to such materials, New York City was the heart of the garment industry in the United States. However, New York City was not recognized as a major player in the fashion industry before World War II. It was only once World War II began that attention started to shift to U.S. fashion. At the start of the war, fashion houses in Paris were shut down. Furthermore, travel to Paris was also highly restricted, such that retailers and the press could no longer travel to Paris as they had before. Stemming from this harsh cutting of Parisian ties was a gap in the U.S. fashion industry. A key figure in filling this hole was publicist Elanor Lambert.
Alongside local New York City garment workers and manufacturers, Elanor Lambert founded the New York Dress Institute. Since the U.S. press was unable to connect with Parisian fashion, Elanor Lambert saw an avenue to feature local designers, forwarding the American fashion industry. As a founder of the New York Dress Institute, she created a “Best-Dressed” list to help promote the New York City makers of clothes. Along with this publicized list, she also introduced the runway into the U.S. She founded New York Fashion Week (originally known as Press Week), an event which was first held biannually at the Pierre and Plaza Manhattan hotels. At Press Week, local designers were encouraged to showcase their designs in ways not previously explored in the United States. At first, Press Week was almost solely attended by retailers and the press, and not open to the public in the way that it is today.
Until the late 1900s, the attendees of Press Week were largely press people. The complete control by the press allowed them to dictate the futures of designers and fashion trends in large. The coverage of Press Week allowed everyday people to familiarize themselves with American fashion. The press that covered NYFW collections was mainly made up of principal figures: Vogue, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and Women’s Wear Daily. These reviews from critics were so crucial to a designer, that editor in chief of Women’s Wear Daily, John Fairchild, was greatly feared by designers. Other players in the fashion industry recognized the power NYFW held over the United States. In the 1950s, a group known as the Denim Council sought to expand the sales of denim in the United States. As part of their marketing strategy, they lobbied Elanor Lambert to allow them to hold denim presentations during NYFW.
This marketing strategy, in addition to a few others worked, and jeans have become incredibly widespread since. Except for those within the industry, direct insight into fashion was limited by socioeconomic status. In the 1970s, the hubs of fashion were Boston, Chicago, and New York City. While Bostonian fashion was seen as more classy and Chicagoan fashion was more brash, New York City was known to be leading the fashion industry. This was mainly from the NYFW press attention, further attracting more and more Americans involved in the fashion scene. With this centralized fashion market and continued press releases, the public gained an understanding of high fashion. Common people, regardless of class, could now be familiar with some designers and their work.
Through the NYFW runway, several designers made names for themselves. Some notable figures were Norman Norell, James Galanos, and Adolfo.
Norman Norell was first familiarized with the fashion scene around the start of World War II when he joined manufacturer Anthony Traina. Quickly outshining his higher-ups, Norell made it to the first few Press Week shows, showcasing his luxurious garments made with elegant fabrics, silk linings, and his delicate use of invisible hems. As the first and frequent receiver of the Coty American Fashion Critics Award, Norell made it to the well renowned Coty Hall of Fame in 1956. Norell’s fashion often consisted of glamorous dresses with sequins (see Figures 1a, 1b, and 1c).
He displayed a unique expression of American femininity through his use of sequins and a tight female silhouette. As a technically sophisticated designer, these high quality dresses allowed U.S. fashion to gain recognition as a player in the world-wide fashion scene., His designs were notably timeless, with some dress styles containing elements still popular in 2022 (see Figure 1b). Norell died in 1972. In his memory, the front page of The New York Times headlined “Norman Norell…made 7th Ave. The Rival of Paris.” His talent as a designer, especially of his time, is undeniable. If Norell never showcased his work in NYFW, he would not have gained the publicity he needed to garner this admiration from the fashion industry.
Figure 1a, 1b, and 1c (left to right). Figure 1a depicts a green luxurious evening dress from an unknown date. Figure 1b shows a black-midi evening dress from 1961. Figure 1c depicts an almost holographic blue and silver sequined gown that he designed in 1953. https://www.metmuseum.org
James Galanos was another designer who gained recognition through the NYFW runways. Like Norell, Galanos was a designer of feminine glamor (see Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d). Specializing in materials such as chiffon, beadwork, embroidery, and fur, many people compared his designs to Parisian haute couture. He also had a consistent color pallet, featuring patterns paired with darker and rich colors — mainly reds and golds. Trained in Paris, Galanos successfully engaged in the American fashion market. His loud designs were identifiable. He was also the first designer to put women in tuxedos, warping preconceived notions of fashion and gender, putting Galanos ahead of his time. Though his legacy may be less recognized than that of Norell, Galanos’ creativity certainly helped shape New York’s identity as a fashion empire.
Figure 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d (left to right). Figure 2a depicts a louder dress from the fall and winter season of 1969–70 made from silk and metal beading. Figure 2b displays a red and black evening dress made from silk and glass beading from 1952. Figure 2c shows a ruched red dress with short sleeves made from silk and plastic beading, along with synthetic pearls from the fall and winter season of 1957 to 1958. Figure 2d shows a Galanos evening dress estimated to be from 1958 to 1960 featuring silk fabric, plastic and glass beading, and finally an array of feathers creating the bottom. https://www.metmuseum.org
Adolfo was a designer born in Cuba in 1923 or 1933 (there are contradicting sources). He always sought to be a fashion designer, hoping to one day make it to Paris. In 1948, Adolfo immigrated to New York City where he worked as an apprentice milliner at Bergdorf Goodman. A few years later, he began working for an independent hat maker, which allowed him to develop his own identity as a fashion designer. At first, he made day-to-day dresses within light color pallets., In his NYFW runway appearances, he initially explored beige and yellow tones and practical dresses (see Figures 3a and 3b).
Figure 3a and 3b (left to right). Figure 3a shows a casual, knit, beige, 1972 dress. Figure 3b shows a 1970–1974 beige evening dress made from synthetic fabric. https://www.metmuseum.org
Well known for his hat-making, Adolfo was a key figure in bringing accessories into the American runway (see Figure 4). His attention to accessories made him a huge hit at NYFW events, catching the eye of Vogue magazine. In fact, over the next three decades, Adolfo was featured in more than 20 Vogue front page features.
Figure 4. Vogue cover from July 1, 1960. Photograph by Karen Radaki of Sondra Peterson wearing a hat by Adolfo of Emme. https://www.vogue.com
This significant attention from the press got notable figures. Featured in the news, first lady, Nancy Reagan, was shown wearing his garments. Because of his successes, Adolfo left behind his dreams of ending up in Paris. He represented the American dream. He helped New York City build an image of being a place where up-and-coming designers can go to find great success. His designs and repetitive use of accessories were not about selling a product, but rather, a story and a lifestyle. This was a novel angle that NYFW quickly adopted, putting New York City on the map as a worldwide fashion enterprise.
Adolfo was certainly not the first to understand the power of not only selling clothing, but also lifestyles. This was first explored with Poiret, a Parisian designer who sold perfumes and colognes that matched the aesthetic of his clothing lines. Coco Chanel was another trailblazer for bringing accessories into the runway. She required that her garments would be styled with other jewelry and accessories before making their way into the catwalk. As NYFW began to pick up on this need to evolve in order to continue to attract attention, accessories became more commonplace.,
Beyond the display of clothing and models, NYFW came to realize the need for good venues. In the 80s, NYFW events were held virtually anywhere: lofts, studios, showrooms, etc. Not designed for the public, many of these buildings were hazardous with rickety elevators and crummy stairwells. In one instance, a press person recalled a piece of plaster from the ceiling falling onto a model during a Michael Kors show in 1991. On October 31 of 1993, NYFW had a centralized venue for the first time, which was established by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). These were the Bryant Park tents (see Figure 5). At the tents, the runway shows now became the new ‘it spot’ for many people in New York City. Similar to night clubs, everyday people could get excited to dress up and go out together and watch these fashion shows as a source of entertainment. It was this emphasis of selling lifestyles that allowed NYFW to broaden its audience beyond just the press and make the public interested in New York City fashion. This theme of selling not just the clothing on the models, but also selling an idea, is one that is certainly existent today. Today, famous luxury designer, Christian Siriano, centers his work on the experience that the clothing brings for those wearing it. He, like many designers, is more interested in selling this experience than solely the item itself.
Figure 5. John Bartlett turns his catwalk into a black-tie dinner party. Photo taken in New York City, USA in New York Fashion Week 2000 at the Bryant Park tent. https://www.jstor.org
This evolution of NYFW broadened the fashion industry. The fashion industry used to be made up solely of designers (those who create the fashion) and the gurus (those who report on fashion to the public). More people, both the public and those in the industry, have become interested in the future of fashion and how it will continue to expand. Today, the prophets of the industry are constantly predicting what trends are about to emerge, and where fashion will be several years down the line.
As one of the big four fashion capitals of the world, it would be negligent to say that other factors have not contributed to the fashion scene in New York City. However, in tracing the history of the fashion industry in the United States, it is clear that NYFW has been at the heart of it all. This paper discussed how NYFW allowed New York City to become and maintain its role as a fashion epicenter. Firstly, NYFW introduced the press to American designers. Before NYFW, the fashion industry in the U.S. was solely interested in Parisian fashion.
Secondly, Press Week encouraged the media that attended these original American runways to spread the word about these American designers. Thirdly, through this funneling of information from NYFW, to the press, then to the public, prominent names in fashion began popping up. Previously taking from Paris, these designers gave New York City its own identity in the fashion world. Finally, NYFW has continued to evolve, allowing the public more direct access and engagement with fashion lines, selling not just clothing but lifestyles and entertainment. From the beginning, NYFW has always been at the cutting edge of fashion, moving the industry forward, and bringing attention to New York City.
Source: historyofyesterday.com