Pam Bristow is producing an alternative venue at the Soho Grand.
Photo: Courtesy of Pam Bristow
Producer Pam Bristow has a history of staging fashion shows in alternative locations (including Tamsen at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers and Charlotte Ronson at the Box). But this season, she went even further and created Grand, a temporary venue in the courtyard of the Soho Grand Hotel, to showcase young fashion designers. The space, complete with a tent, café, and media lounge, opened September 5 and closes today. The goal, Bristow said, was to bring avant-garde art back to SoHo. It's sponsored by Budweiser Select.
Why Grand?
I formulated Grand as a young designer show destination. The Bryant Park tents are inaccessible for many designers, and the Grand concept was to give these artists a premier show space—in SoHo, the historic hotbed of cutting-edge artistry.
Why are there more and more alternative locations to show during Fashion Week?
There are many reasons—creative, financial—but really, designers are artists, and it will always be impossible to keep the younger, most creative ones bound to a template. They need options. I love that I could provide one of them.What’s the biggest production challenge for you?
I have huge dreams for every project I embark on, so I would say budget. It's always budget.
Budweiser isn’t a brand usually associated with fashion—especially cutting-edge fashion. What was the draw for Select to sponsor Grand? Why are non-fashion companies interested in participating in Fashion Week?
Budweiser Select is a premium beer with a youthful, aspirational personality. What better match than young, cutting-edge designers with big futures ahead of them? Additionally the very wise people at Anheuser-Busch understand that Fashion Week is a convergence of everything they want to associate their brand with: luxury, creativity, hipness, and the media.
Why Grand?
I formulated Grand as a young designer show destination. The Bryant Park tents are inaccessible for many designers, and the Grand concept was to give these artists a premier show space—in SoHo, the historic hotbed of cutting-edge artistry.
Why are there more and more alternative locations to show during Fashion Week?
There are many reasons—creative, financial—but really, designers are artists, and it will always be impossible to keep the younger, most creative ones bound to a template. They need options. I love that I could provide one of them.What’s the biggest production challenge for you?
I have huge dreams for every project I embark on, so I would say budget. It's always budget.
Budweiser isn’t a brand usually associated with fashion—especially cutting-edge fashion. What was the draw for Select to sponsor Grand? Why are non-fashion companies interested in participating in Fashion Week?
Budweiser Select is a premium beer with a youthful, aspirational personality. What better match than young, cutting-edge designers with big futures ahead of them? Additionally the very wise people at Anheuser-Busch understand that Fashion Week is a convergence of everything they want to associate their brand with: luxury, creativity, hipness, and the media.
