New York Fashion Week: A History Lesson (PHOTOS)
In 1973, a very famous fashion show took place at Versailles and for the first time, American designers like Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass and Anne Klein got to show their fresh, young talent to a global audience. After that, the U.S. fashion industry was propelled onto a crowded stage of international designers, all competing to make their capital city, the fashion capital of the world. And while we definitely have Mr. de la Renta, Donna Karan and the showdown at Versailles to thank for our now-extraordinary style presence, it’s what came years later that has since kept America, New York in particular, one of the centers of innovative design.
New York Fashion Week, which officially began in 1993 at Bryant Park, has fast become one of the most highly-anticipated fashion weeks in the world, aside from its major counterparts in Paris, London and Milan. It claims fame for being the first to showcase models and designers of now epic fame. Names like Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista were born off of the Big Apple’s runways. And although last year the shows were moved from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center, the spirit and the style are still definitely have roots in the tents at 42nd street.
With this season’s latest New York Fashion Week beginning next Wednesday, we thought it might be fitting to take a look back through the history of the tents. In a new book out now called, “New York Fashion Week: The Designers, the Models, the Fashions of the Bryant Park Era,” Eila Mell has compiled some of the most iconic moments and people, since 1993.
Check out our gallery below to get a front row look at the new tome.
Photos by Roxanne Lowit and Randy Brooke
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