New York Fashion Week s/s 20 Recap

This was my fourth year attending the September NYFW (spring/summer collections), and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, it was the best one yet!  A few reasons added up to creating the ultimate fashion week experience. For one, I didn’t have to worry about teaching and creating sub-plans before, or coming back to work exhausted and having to catch up at school! Next, our location of our AirBnB was phenomenal. In the heart of Tribeca, we were a two minute walk from the official New York Fashion Week venue. I stayed with 10 other women (consisting of bloggers, makeup artists, and hair stylists), so I always felt in-the-know of events. Thirdly, after four visits to NYC, I finally felt capable of getting around by myself without confusion; no more getting lost on the subway! Lastly, this Fashion Week I made a conscious effort to attend more events and showrooms specifically for building connections between brands and bloggers.

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Things to Know About Fashion Week

The More Original the Outfit, The Better

My first year or two attending NYFW, I simply didn’t understand the street style I saw walking to shows. It often seemed too bold, mismatched, or even crazy. While some people do indeed wear outrageous outfits just to grab attention, most people are expressing themselves and truly creating art with what they are wearing. This year, I think the idea behind street style fashion finally clicked for me! In fact, I was captured (at least 3 times!) by street style photographers. Many bloggers will tell you that a goal is to end up on Getty Images. It’s an honorary way of saying, “you nailed your outfit and are worthy of NYFW”. It’s been a goal of mine for at least 4 years to end up on Getty or a similar website, and finally it happened!

Designers are Making Less Haute Couture and Creating More Ready-to-Wear

I can’t be the only one that has seen a meme or two about the wild designs walking down runways, right?! Runways used to be more about high fashion, or haute couture, and giving fashion insiders a look into the creations designers would be showing the next season. They were more about the feel of the designs, constructing art out of the fabric, pieces, and concepts, instead of about creating looks to be worn off the runway. The fashion industry has changed immensely, especially in the past 5-10 years. Designers are under pressure to create pieces at a faster rate due to buyers wanting products immediately. Thus, most of the looks shown at New York Fashion Week in 2019, although still expensive and “high fashion”, are more accessible to the public. Industry members want to showcase clothing that people can buy off-the-rack. 

Trends are Here to Stay

Even though I went to a different designer or showroom daily, patterns among the colors, silhouettes, and fabrics still emerged. Animal print is here to stay! Tulle, tweed, sequins, and vinyl are all having a moment (think texture). Pearls should adorn everything you own. Pastel colors, including pistachio green, are going to be all the rage. It felt like I was seeing a lot of late ’90s, early ’00s inspired fashion. The designer runways I saw during Fashion Week: Laurence & Chico, Affair, House of Campbell, Torannce, Portia & Scarlett, DEA the Label, Made with Love Bridal, Sonya Swim, Indonesian Diversity, and Liuyong x Rishikensh.

The Events at Fashion Week Are Where Bloggers Should Be

Knowing that the agencies in charge of fashion shows work really hard, I automatically declined more shows this year to respect their time! In past fashion weeks, I overbooked myself and couldn’t get to shows on time because of overlap or traffic, which makes it hard for the agencies trying to seat people. Even so, I still missed some shows accidentally this year due to transportation! Besides not wanting to make agencies’ lives hard, I also figured out that, while shows are fun, the true networking happens at events and brand show rooms. I decided to try and book more parties that brands were throwing so that I could network with other bloggers and get to know the brands on a more personal level. Equally important to me was to go and have lunch or visit the offices of brands/agencies I work with so that I could meet with the PR reps face to face! If you are a blogger or an influencer, I’d recommend more of these get-togethers and less shows! After all, I wouldn’t have met Diane von Furstenberg at a runway, but I did get the chance to meet her at the Bumble Biz meet up this year!

What do you want to know about New York Fashion Week?