NEW YORK (AP) – No celebs packing the front rows. No paparazzi chasing models down the streets. No stiletto-heeled crowds. No crowds at all, actually. Is there even a point to doing New York Fashion Week in 2020?
Well, yes, say organizers: It’s about economic survival.
“Ultimately fashion is a business, and Fashion Week is a platform for designers to do business,” says Steven Kolb, chief executive of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which organizes the semi-annual event. “So this is about jobs … it’s about people’s livelihoods. It”s about moving forward, but cautiously, with safety in mind.”
With that key priority in mind – safety – the CFDA has been pushing designers to go digital this Fashion Week, which begins Sunday evening and lasts through Wednesday. It’s going to be virtually all virtual: Fewer than a handful of labels have decided to show in person. They include Jason Wu, Rebecca Minkoff and Christian Siriano, the latter showing in far-off Connecticut. There will be heavy restrictions in place, from distancing to masks to in some cases, required COVID tests.
For the 70-odd designers offering so-called “digital activations,” there’s a new platform from CFDA, Runway 360, where people can watch the shows and designers can connect in various ways with buyers and consumers – what Kolb describes as a modern version of the old tents in Manhattan where the industry once gathered during Fashion Week.