With the inaugural New York Fashion Week: Men’s but a fleeting memory, it’s too early to gauge the success the event achieved, or if it met its intended purpose as set out by the Council of Fashion Designers of America: generate sales and build that all-important buzz—all the while simplifying the New York Fashion Week calendar that has seemingly spiraled out of control. It was back in 1995 that 7th on Sixth—the nonprofit that had created and executed an organized women’s fashion week at Bryant Park—put together a men’s consortium in an effort to replicate the success it met with its female counterparts. While that effort was met with a short fuse of success, things appear to be on the mend some 20 years later.
From relative newbies Siki Im, Greg Lauren, and John Elliott & Company to buzzy names like Alexandre Plokhov, Stuart Vevers for Coach, Duckie Brown, and Gypsy Sport to firmly established nameplates John Varvatos, Thom Browne, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Michael Kors, there appeared to be enough variety—and ad dollars—for editors, and their retail counterparts, to show up.
“I thought the men's shows were very well organized and I was glad to see the C.F.D.A. brought back the separate men’s week again,” said industry veteran Fern Mallis, a former executive director of the C.F.D.A. best known as the creator of 7th on Sixth (aka New York Fashion Week). “There were many terrific shows and presentations, and it’s clear that there’s enough talent to sustain a separate fashion week.”
The general consensus from the bold-faced attendees was that the week, which ran July 13 to 16, was run smoothly with little intrusion from attention-seeking crashers or in-your-face corporate giants hawking their latest consumer goods. Designers, in return, put their A-game on with shows and presentations that served as a complement to what was an otherwise overwhelmingly conservative showing of collections.
From Public School’s prison lineup vignettes and Plokhov’s Euro-centric all-black venue bathed in blood red light to Ralph Lauren turning his lobby into a dessert bar for editors and Browne’s whimsical presentation on tailoring, the results left many blocking out their datebooks for round two, to be held January 28 to 31.
As for Fashion Week’s new home, “I liked the way Skylight Clarkson Square was laid out,” said Mallis, now the host of "Fashion Icons With Fern Mallis" at New York’s 92nd Street Y. “[It reflects] the men's industry, which has a very cool laid-back vibe.”