>> It's still two months until New York Fashion Week, but as predicted, all the cost-cutting is making some major designers shuffle their usual plans.Vera Wang, who typically shows at the tents in Bryant Park, is downsizing to a more intimate show — 14-15 models, 100-150 guests — in her new Mercer Street store, but promises it won't be a presentation: "The intimacy of a smaller show feels much more appropriate for these times." She says the decision is not only for financial reasons, but admits they do have an impact: "Once you go off-site, you don’t get any of the benefits that are in tents. But by the same token, showing in the tents calls for 25 girls, and hair and make-up.
by POPSUGAR Fashion News
>> It's still two months until New York Fashion Week, but as predicted, all the cost-cutting is making some major designers shuffle their usual plans.
Vera Wang, who typically shows at the tents in Bryant Park, is downsizing to a more intimate show — 14-15 models, 100-150 guests — in her new Mercer Street store, but promises it won't be a presentation: "The intimacy of a smaller show feels much more appropriate for these times." She says the decision is not only for financial reasons, but admits they do have an impact: "Once you go off-site, you don’t get any of the benefits that are in tents. But by the same token, showing in the tents calls for 25 girls, and hair and make-up. It’s an incredible production."
Betsey Johnson and Carmen Marc Valvo, too, are leaving the tents behind. Betsey has shown in Bryant Park for the past five years to a guest list of 1,000, and although she's undecided on her Fall 2009 format or location, she will be doing something different. Carmen Marc Valvo cites high costs — typically $150,000-$200,000 each season — as his reason to pull out, and is considering switching from 1,000-guest runway format to a 200-guest cocktail party format, because the change could save 50% of his usual presentation costs.
Donna Karan already announced that her DKNY runway was being replaced with a presentation; Fewer models, fewer guests, and tight-belted presentations seem to an early Fall 2009 trend — with more announcements in the same vein sure to come.
*image: source
>> THE MODELIZER —Helena Christensen's new photography exhibit Far From, Close just opened last night at the Dactyl Foundation — and includes a whole series that Helena took on her phone. The set is moody, diverse, and decidedly different than her own fashion background. Up next for the model-turned-photographer? A trip to Macao, sans camera. [Style File, Of the Minute, Fashionista]
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