The frenetic pace of Fashion Week in New York is nothing new, but this season the biannual event seemed even busier, with attendees running to and from venues uptown, downtown, and everywhere in between.
Held September 10 to 17, the IMG-owned event now known as New York Fashion Week: The Shows, moved from its somewhat centralized location at Lincoln Center to a trio of spaces—Milk Studios, Skylight Clarkson Square, and Skylight at Moynihan Station. And despite the Council of Fashion Designers of America's efforts to align the shows properly based on the Fashion Calendar, which it owns, designers appeared to abandon any sense of cooperation, scattering their showings across the city, with the majority concentrated downtown and along the West Side Highway.
The official venues also saw some growing pains. Although the Skylight properties were refreshingly free of the avalanche of marketing showgoers are accustomed to being bombarded with, the lack of Wi-Fi and shuttle buses between them didn’t win over any new fans. (IMG has confirmed that both Skylight Moynihan Station and Clarkson Square will return as official New York Fashion Week venues come February.)
However, with every major designer seemingly showing at his or her own unique venue, this season may have proved Fashion Week's most creative yet—at least in terms of event production.From Marc Jacobs and Opening Ceremony to Coach and a spectacular Givenchy, the New York shows had never been more aligned with their European counterparts when it comes to imagination. And that was a good thing.