Last Days at Bryant Park
by Ian J. Larraga
by Ian J. Larraga
The end has come at last. No, not the end of the world, that's arguably two years down the line. It's the end of Fashion Week at Bryant Park. For many, it is a bitter ending. IMG Fashions which runs Fashion Week has been at odds for years now with the privately owned Bryant Park Management. The end result is the non-renewal of IMG's lease and the subsequent move of Fashion Week to Lincoln Center.
The CFDA and participating designers aren't thrilled about the move but they are happy to go where they're wanted. Lincoln Center is further away from the garment district but it's larger, the buildings are beautiful and there's parking underground.
The mood at the Bryant Park tents these last few days have been mixed. There's excitement from the fashion crowds about next season's move to Lincoln Center but there was also a bit of reminiscing and for some, a bit of mourning due to designer Alexander McQueen's recent passing.
Fashion shows at the Bryant Park tents began over 15 years ago in 1994. There were many in the tents today that can't remember what came before that, Bryant Park is all they've ever known. I've only started to cover the tents myself, just last year.
The CFDA and participating designers aren't thrilled about the move but they are happy to go where they're wanted. Lincoln Center is further away from the garment district but it's larger, the buildings are beautiful and there's parking underground.
The mood at the Bryant Park tents these last few days have been mixed. There's excitement from the fashion crowds about next season's move to Lincoln Center but there was also a bit of reminiscing and for some, a bit of mourning due to designer Alexander McQueen's recent passing.
Fashion shows at the Bryant Park tents began over 15 years ago in 1994. There were many in the tents today that can't remember what came before that, Bryant Park is all they've ever known. I've only started to cover the tents myself, just last year.
From left: Donna Karan, Marisa Berenson, Diane Von Furstenberg, Naomi Campbell and Duchess Sarah Ferguson take a moment to pose backstage at Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief Haiti at the Bryant Park tents.
Photos courtesy of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York and Getty Images © 2010 All Rights Reserved
Heidi Klum prepares to walk the runway at the latest finale showing of Lifetime's Project Runway.
Whether we like it or not, change will come. There will be a new generation of designers, editors, stylists, socialites and celebrities that will only know of Lincoln Center as their center of the fashion universe. Of course there will be doubts, difficulties and uncertainties with the change in venue but there will also be more amazing stories and new designs on the way. Fashion by it's nature always looks ahead and looking ahead for all of us is Lincoln Center. September will mark a new era in fashion history and I can't wait to be a part of it.