History of Fashion Week to the Great Extent

The first fashion week was held in New York in 1943, with the main purpose to distract from the French fashion during World War II. Workers in the fashion industry during this time were unable to travel so many designers in the United States decided to host their own show in the U.S. Fashion week was then born, Eleanor Lambert organized the first fashion week and it was call “Press Week”. Press Week can thank Vogue magazine for making the week a great success. During this week Vogue began to feature more American more than the usual French work that they usually showed. As Vogue did this they cause a great fashion wave all over the United State, people realized that they could find great fashions in the United States sooner than if they had to wait for the fashions to come to the United States.

Until 1994 different designer shows were held at different locations, but a set accident at a Michael Kors show made the fashion week counsel change the location of fashion week and it was moved to Bryan Park. Fashion week remained at Bryant Park until 2010 when it was then relocated to Lincoln Center.

Eleanor Lambert was not the first to hold a fashion show in America, in 1903 in New York City a shop call Ehrich Brothers was thought to have put on the country’s very first fashion show to get middle class women to shop at their store. By 1910 many department stores were following this trend to draw in more customers. Stores got the ideas for fashion shows based on fashion parades in Paris. These shows were a great way to promote stores and to get designers names out into the world for them to become who they are today.

By the 1920s fashion parades and shows were happening all over the country by retailers, large department stores and small mom and pop shops were jumping at the chance to hold a show. Many shows were held in the stores restaurant during brunch or tea time, when women were most likely to be at the stores having a snack after a long morning of shopping. The theme of the shows were singular and were very dramatic and theatrical than those of the shows done today. Each show was presented with a narrative commentary that told the audience what they were looking at, what material is was made out of and they tried to sell the looks the best they could to the women of the middle and upper classes. As the fashion parades became more popular they started to bring in more and more crowds of people, starting in the 1950s any place that was indoors needs to obtain a permit to have live models for the show because of all the people that would come to the shows.

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