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New York Fashion Week Brings lot of
Money with Galmour.
Source : Moneyplans.net Archives
If you think New York Fashion Week is
a parade of impractical clothes worn by skinny models
and celebrated by overindulged editors, you're right.
But it's also much more.
The semiannual runway extravaganza generates
an estimated $253 million for the city and helps keep
the retail, hotel and nightlife businesses healthy.
Not only that, but the collections -
which start Friday at the Bryant Park tents and end the
following Friday - preserve New York's glamorous reputation
as the nation's fashion capital.
"Fashion Week is one of the more
lucrative events for the city," said Cristyne Nicholas,
president and CEO of NYC & Company, the Big Apple's
official tourism marketing organization. "It's a
magnet for business to NYC and it helps build the image.
A lot of international buyers come in, and every time
they do, they see the improvements. To us, it's a huge
international press familiarization tour."
Indeed, an estimated 400 photographers,
80 television crews, editors from more than 250 magazines
and hundreds of models from far-flung places pack the
tents. More than a dozen designers among the 100 or so
scheduled to unveil their fall lines hail from foreign
countries.
"The tents are the Ellis Island
of fashion for America," said Fern Mallis, executive
director for 7th on Sixth, the show organizer. "We
have a Hong Kong group and designers from Turkey, Brazil,
Australia, England and other countries. These are people
who recognize that showing in New York is the best way
to focus on their clothing."
They're not the only ones who appreciate
the impact of beautiful models prancing down catwalks
in trendy togs.
Companies from Olympus (the title sponsor)
to Song airlines to Silhouette clamor to fund the collections,
hoping to put their products in the hands of influential
fashion editors.
After all, an editor who likes the Silhouette
shades she scores for free at the tents just might feature
them in her magazine. That exposure leads to increased
sales.
With less than a week to go before the
action starts, the mood on Seventh Ave. is upbeat. "Business
is getting better and people are more optimistic,"
Mallis said. "We have so much hot talent."
Fashion Week has a huge impact on the
shopping scene, hotels, bars and clubs. Read on.
The Industry
New York City's apparel industry produces
$35 billion in revenues annually and employs 150,000 people,
according to Mayor Bloomberg, who announced the figures
at a Fashion Week reception last September. However, the
sector is said to be in a slump, with 2002 employment
in Manhattan alone slipping 4.8% to 58,877 from 2001 levels
- something the mayor aims to combat. Much of the decline
is in manufacturing jobs.
Nightlife
Fashion Week floods the city with celebs and a bevy of
beautiful people - just the kind of crowd club owners
and restaurateurs hope will hit their openings.
So proprietors take advantage of the
ready mix of revelers by holding opening bashes and glitzy
post-show soirees in September and February.
"Last fall, owners were all waiting
for Fashion Week to happen," says Chris Hoffman,
CEO of Shecky's, a comprehensive guide to clubs. "Everybody
wants to launch with that whole bang of everybody famous
going to the opening." Last February, Lobby on W.
38th St. made its debut. In September, fashionistas feted
Lexington Ave.'s LQ, among others.
Next week, Rande Gerber will open the
swanky Stone Rose in the Time Warner center. Gerber's
5,000-square-foot boite will host designer Zac Posen's
after-party on Feb. 12, an event sure to draw a glittering
group.
The Victoria's Secret posse may be hotter
than the food at Spice Market, a new Meatpacking District
restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Gray Kunz.
Gisele and Tyra will mingle with model friends at the
restaurant's first big event, a celebration of VS' new
photo book, "Backstage Sexy."
Clubs that opened recently will use the
week to get the A-list's attention. For the fashion elite,
Social Club on E. 27th St. will unveil its ultra-exclusive
VIP room. Social Club will even dispense drinks inside
the tents to make its presence known.
Down the block, The Gershwin Hotel hopes
for an image upheaval with parties at its new bar, Gallery
at the Gershwin. And the hotel's Tang Restaurant opens
to the public Feb. 14 at Fashion Week's end — just as
models, editors and designers are breathing a sigh of
relief.
Amy DiLuna
Hotels
Some 1,800 members of the press visit
the city during the collections, and they have to bunk
somewhere. So they book rooms at the city's sleekest hotels
- the Mercer, the Royalton, the SoHo Grand, the Hudson,
the Bryant Park Hotel and the W properties are all favorites
of the fashion pack. (Think high-design rooms that cost
upward of $225 a night and a crowd right out of "Sex
and the City.")
"The first quarter of the year is
generally slow, but Fashion Week changes that dynamic,"
says Brad Wilson, area managing director for W Hotels
of New York. "Most of our five hotels [in Manhattan]
will probably sell out during Fashion Week."
Retail
Smart fashion brands time their store
openings to coincide with Fashion Week. That way, out-of-town
tastemakers can visit the new digs and purchase all the
latest must-haves.
Boutiques scheduled to open this season
include Original Penguin, a casual wear line; Furla, a
luxury leather goods collection, and, biggest of all,
a four-story Louis Vuitton emporium.
On Feb. 10, Vuitton will throw a mega-bash
to celebrate the opening of its biggest store in the world
at Fifth Ave. and 57th St.
The store will carry three exclusive,
very expensive products: a $200,000 Tourbillon watch,
apple charms in honor of the city that start at $2,600,
and the new Damier Geant soft canvas travel line.
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