Fashion: The New York Paradox

After its heyday in the 2000s, New York Fashion Week can no longer compete with Milan and Paris Weeks: few young designers are emerging and historic labels are satisfied with commercial proposals. “American brands do not know how to use the creative impulse of designers”, analyzes Pierre Rouget. This press director in Paris and New York takes the cue from Belgian Raf Simons’ short-lived stint at Calvin Klein, who threw in the towel after just two years of collaboration.

If New York fails to attract European designers in a sustainable way, the city continues to attract them for the duration of fashion shows. Thus, on April 15, the Dior femme took over the Brooklyn Museum; Also in Brooklyn, on the Old Docks, Alexander McQueen held a parade in March 2022. In September 2023, the Swedes from COS, H&M’s chic and premium label, paraded in a Manhattan club, and young Parisian designer Ludovic de Saint Cernin staged his show in February atop a skyscraper in the same neighborhood. Why do start-ups or established brands, budget or high-end, inevitably end up stuck in the Big Apple?

“Since I saw the movie as a teenager Devil Wears PradaI told myself I had to do fashion in New York.”recalls Ludovic de Saint Cernin, who found an opportunity to develop a collection around the iconic American photographer of 1980s New York, Robert Mapplethorpe. “For European creators, it remains a fantasy city where we’re always waiting for Godzilla to appear between the two towers or a serial killer in Central Park.”Sums up Lucien Pagès, who advises and supports many designers.

Parade, cocktail or dinner

Beyond the cinematic card, the Big Apple offers a valuable cultural base for luxury goods that like the artistic aura of their products: the reopening of a museum, the launch of an exhibition or a trade fair are fertile grounds for organizing a fashion show – or, failing that, a cocktail or dinner.

“We must not forget that New York is first and foremost a city where we do businessnotes Guillaume Delacroix, who heads the press office in Paris and New York. Since China is going through an economic crisis, the American market has become crucial for luxury brands. And it is in New York that they open their offices, because it is the most European city in the United States that they understand best. » Not content to concentrate capital and headquarters, New York has many clients with strong purchasing power who are happy to be invited to a local fashion show. “They really like the events and parades organized on the ground, foreign brands tell them they are important”notices Mr. Rouget.

“I also came to New York to show my community, mostly Americans, that I care about them, to thank them”Ludovic de Saint-Cernin agrees, who believes that it has been very well received, both by his clients, institutions and journalists. “When there’s a parade in New York, the press comes from all over the country, which gives it real visibility.”, notes Guillaume Delacroix. A visibility that is all the greater because certain media such as New York Times, is read all over the world. And that the local fashion ecosystem is very receptive to creative suggestions that it doesn’t have much of an opportunity to observe during its own fashion week.