Designers Have New Tricks Up Their Sleeves For Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week is shaping up to be one unlike any we’ve seen before.

It seems like everywhere we turn for retail news, we’re beaten over the head with the fact that the retail landscape is changing - and also that we haven’t seen anything yet in terms of the total transformation that’s underway. For additional confirmation, we need to look no further than the upcoming New York Fashion Week, which typically helps to set the tone for what we can expect between now and the Spring of the following year on the fashion front. According to the Hollywood Reporter, NYFW is shaping up to be one unlike any we’ve seen before. 

Once the only way to see the latest trends and where fashion would take us next, that concept has gone by the wayside along with numerous other things in the retail world as a whole. In addition to disrupting the world of commerce, the internet and social media have not been kind for designers and companies that hope to keep a lid on what they are working on until the big reveal on the runway and at the fashion shows. Combine that with declining retail sales and a number of designers that are in the midst of transitions of their own, and it’s clear that we’re headed towards a very different experience at NYFW. 

Several designers are even looking past the staple event of runway shows to focus on alternative formats, which include consumer facing and social media-friendly events. Others are looking towards exclusive and intimate presentations, and some are even taking that a step further with appointment-only previews. In yet another sign of the times, Misha Nonoo is even offering up a Snapchat-only show.  



Additionally, the concept of ‘see now, buy now,’ has gained an enormous amount of traction. Designers such as Tom Ford and Rebecca Minkoff are among those who will be making their new fashions available on-site. On the other end of the extreme, iconic fashion company Calvin Klein is bypassing the show altogether. The label will be hosting a party with Vogue creative director at large Grace Coddington, in which they will celebrate the release of her signature fragrance. 

Public School designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have previously announced that they were skipping the show as well. “We can actually enjoy our collections as opposed to being tied to the calendar," Chow said.