A Comprehensive History of Fashion Week

The primary goal of the inaugural fashion week, which took place in New York in 1943, was to divert attention from the French fashion scene during World War II. Because fashion industry employees at the time were unable to travel, many American designers chose to stage their own show in the country. After that, Eleanor Lambert arranged the first fashion week, which she called "Press Week." Press Week owes a debt of gratitude to Vogue magazine for making the week a huge success. This week, Vogue started showcasing more American artwork than the typical French pieces they normally featured. People learned they could find fantastic fashions in the United States sooner than if they had to wait for the fashions to come to the United States as Vogue achieved this, creating a huge fashion wave throughout the United States.

A set accident at a Michael Kors presentation forced the fashion week council to relocate the location of fashion week, and it was moved to Bryan Park. Until 1994, various designer shows were held at various locales. Up until 2010, when it moved to Lincoln Center, fashion week was held at Bryant Park.

Eleanor Lambert was not the first to host a fashion show in America; rather, Ehrich Brothers, a business in New York City, is credited with staging the nation's first fashion show in 1903 in an effort to attract middle-class ladies to their establishment. To increase sales by 1910, numerous department stores adopted this approach. The inspiration for stores' fashion shows came from the Paris fashion parades. These displays were a fantastic method to publicize shops and get the names of designers out there, helping them to become who they are today.

By the 1920s, fashion parades and shows were being held by retailers all across the nation. Both big department stores and little mom-and-pop shops jumped at the chance to host a display. Numerous performances took place in the restaurant of the store at brunch or tea time, when women were most likely to be there eating a snack after a long morning of shopping. The themes of the concerts were unique, and they had a far more dramatic and theatrical feel than the shows produced today. Every exhibition included a narrative commentary that explained to the audience what they were viewing, what the object was made of, and how they were trying to appeal to ladies in the middle and upper classes with their appearances. As the fashion parades gained popularity, they attracted larger and larger crowds of people, and by the 1950s, because of the large number of attendees, any indoor location needed a permission to use live models for the show.