The tents have come down as the final season of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at the Bryant Park wrapped-up on February 20th.
This season the runways of Bryant Park once again featured talented designers from all parts of the globe. The Tents hosted plenty of veteran designers including Diane Von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Anna Sui, Zac Posen, Carolina Herrera and Max Azria (for three shows), along with several noteworthy newcomers, like William Rast (with Justin Timberlake & Trace Ayala in tow), Mackage, Adam and ThisDay/ARISE African Fashion Collective all of which will hopefully return next season when the tents move to Lincoln Center.
The celebrity turn-out was also, surprisingly, strong with the likes of Kanye West, Joy Bryant, Heidi Klum, Lucy Liu, Alicia Keys, Grace Jones, Kate Bosworth, Selma Blair, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Claire Danes, and Natasha Bedingfield popping-up at a number of shows. Further, this season marked the return of the hotly debated American Express Skybox where Gold, Platinum and Centurion Cardmembers pay a fee to watch shows from inside the box designed by Jonathan Adler. Although the Skybox is often scorned by industry insiders, there have recently been talks of the possibility of tickets being sold to fashion week shows (beyond American Express card members), to help cover costs, however there is no official word on this yet.
In regards to this season, Senior Vice-President of IMG Fashion Fern Mallis noted that “with all eyes, pens, cameras, microphones on the fashion industry this week, asking and reporting on the economic climate’s affect on fashion, the consensus is very clear that the designers have all worked long and hard to design collections to inspire shoppers to get back in the stores. From a variety of new basics and investment clothes, to colorful happy looks that lift us all and make it irresistible, the energy in the Tents, around the city, the parties, receptions and attendance throughout week was as good as ever!” In fact over 8 days, approximately 100,000 people passed through the iconic Tents.
Now with London already well on its way we wait with anticipation for the shows in Milan and Paris to round-out the Fall/Winter 2009 season.
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
