Whether your interest in Fashion Week starts and ends with Derek Zoolander or you’ve got a bonafide flair for ready-to-wear, Campus Sports is prepared to provide you enough language to get you through New York’s very first standalone Menswear Fashion Week.
Today, we find ourselves on the brink of New York’s first standalone Menswear Fashion Week thanks to an announcement made back in February by the Counsel of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
This is an important time for American Fashion and to the surprise of most men I spoke to, Derek Zoolander is no where to be found…
With athletes sitting front row for runways across the globe and major designers collaborating with athletic brands like Nike and adidas, there is no excuse for the alpha dogs on campus to live in ignorance – or a Tall-T and Hammy Downs, as a matter of fact. So, with the big show about to take off in New York, Campus Sports is here to give our readers a baseline education on some Fashion Week fundamentals.
Best-case scenario: one of these facts helps you get laid in the coming weeks. Worst-case scenario: you mistakenly credit Boris Bidjan Saberi as a Bond Villain.
It is a risk we feel our readers should be willing to take.
The Season
Menswear Shows are held twice a year in major cities around the world. Although the exact kick off dates can vary slightly from year to year, the general formula is Autumn/Winter Collections in January and Spring/Summer Collections in June.
The Title
The collections being shown are titled for the season they will be produced for. In other words, the collections you’ve seen go down the runway over the past few weeks are called Spring/Summer 2016. They are the collections and trends to follow for next Spring.
So in a way, the shows are pretty much a month long Draft Day; a showcase by the industry’s top teams for who and what to watch and wear in the upcoming season.
The Tour
Many cities will host shows during either season, but in the men’s fashion world three cities reign supreme: London, Milan and Paris.
The traditional cycle had London kicking it off with a weekend of shows, then off to Milan a week later for three days of Italian favor and then the grand finale in the city of love, lights and berets.
The New Tour Stop: NY
The formal creation of New York Fashion Week (NYFW): Mens was made by the Council Of Fashion Designers Of America (CFDA) – Fashion’s “ruling body” and creator of the Fashion Calendar ( “the tour”). This will be the very first time New York City has hosted their own standalone week of Menswear shows, presentations and events.
NYFW: Mens will align with New York Men’s Market Week and will feature collections by designers and retail houses like CFDA Board Member and NYFW: Men’s Supporter Tommy Hilfiger, as well as Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Rag & Bone, Public School, Todd Snyder, Duckie Brown, Patrik Ervell and many more.
Credit: Style.comThe Teams
Cramped into these two to four day show periods are back to back, often conflicting show schedules spread out across the host city. A designer will only create one collection per city – most of the time – but many important members of the Collections’ Show Staff will take on multiple shows every day in every city.
Remember that feeling fall semester of freshman year? You had an 8:00 a.m. on the west side of campus, a 9 a.m. on the east and an impossible to make 11 a.m. work out every other Monday of the month. Take that day, make Bill Murray the star and you’ve got yourself just a taste of what major casting directors, stylists, hair and makeup teams deal with on a daily basis during this heinously hectic time.
The Players
Fashion shows aren’t just about what is being worn down the runway, but also who is wearing it. For high fashion models, the shows are like the playoffs. There is no real ranking system going in so in a way no real way to predict how you’ll do. But if you are one of the few that kills it here, then you can look forward to an offseason filled with campaigns, fashion spreads and a hell of a change of salary.
Credit: tumblrFor a model, opening the show (being the first look down the runway) and closing the show (take a wild guess…) are the blue ribbon positions given out at each show. The unofficial tally for “MVP” at the end of the season is given to the model who did the most high level shows with extra points awarded for any shows opened or closed.
Giving a whole new meaning to Ricky Bobby’s saying, “If you’re not first, you’re last.”
The Agents
Agents, like a coach, work tirelessly to prep their models and create unique plays to secure a successful season. Portfolios are created with meticulous detail, castings are scheduled like flight patterns, relentless calls and favors are pulled – all in the hopes that they can get their kid a chance at the title.
Their work is endless and often thankless – but then again, all it takes is one Hail Mary play to put a kid on the map.
This little blurb may not cover all your Fashion Week questions, but it sure is a start! The New York Shows start July 13th. Be a Patriot and Pay attention.
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Featured Photo Credit (Above) to the Associated Press
