NEW YORK FASHION WEEK.

       

 When it comes to fashion. the highest form of fashion is usually displayed in New York fashion week . Designers from all over the world wait for this moment of the year. The most iconic looks have been created . Fashion is displayed as a work of art . Supermodels from different parts of the world walk in the runway for one of the most renowned designers.
 For two weeks out of the year, the entire city of New York is overrun by Italian models, French designers, and kilometers of fabric. New York Fashion Week is a biannual global event where close to 500 brands showcase their collections on the runway for eager audiences. Before 1988, fashion was decentralized; New 

York Fashion Week started to gain traction as individual designers had 

additional shows around the city. After 1988, this model started to collapse, more designers began to sign on, buyers were flocking to the shows, and attendance grew more streamlined. When Lincoln Center became the epicenter of the show, New York Fashion Week became the spectacle we know and see today. As one of the most watched fashion events in history, it’s not surprising that the week is able to generate an economic boon for New York.

New York Fashion Week has many quantifiable macroeconomic impacts across the board. From its influence on the job market to government-backed initiatives, it has curried much money for the city. However, the true economic impact of New York Fashion Week lies above and beyond even the fashion market. In France, couture brands would dictate what to wear to millions of consumers looking at smaller, cheaper retail options to fulfill their desires. Similarly, New York Fashion Week influences printing techniques, materials, beauty trends, and designs. Some brands have the power to influence what other brands can do. According to a report by Yoko Katagiri of the City University of New York, the American consumer has been spending less on each piece of clothing they purchase but have been steadily buying more clothing in aggregate since 1992. Furthermore, volume of apparel consumed in the US has doubled, from 10 million to 20 billion annually since 2000, causing a 60% increase in volume consumption since 1991. As the brands in central to American high fashion continue to increase in size and collections, so do the number of replicas that fall from the retail markets. Furthermore, DeBlasio announced $5 million for programs that bolster existing fashion initiatives that help create manufacturing technology and worker training programs, another branch of the week’s impact outside of the runway.

Aside from the clothing market, New York Fashion Week also influences other spheres of art, such as home decoration. According to a report released by Janovic, the subtle colors and metal accents seen on the runway heavily influenced the colors and geometric schemes used in interior decoration. To be able to quantify fashion week’s impact on sources such as home decor and technology is impossible, but one thing is for sure: the true impact lies beyond the runway and in the hands of the modern consumer.