Since its departure from Bryant Park in 2010, New York Fashion Week has struggled to find a stable home.
Following a five-year stint at Lincoln Center, which ended in 2015, shows have been held at two primary locations: Skylight Clarkson Square and Skylight Moynihan Station—though many designers have opted to show at alternative venues instead. But according to WWD, more changes are coming, as New York Fashion Week is losing its primary show venue: Skylight Clarkson Square.
The move will cause the CFDA to re-assess the landscape of NYFW show venues moving forward, with the changes going into effect in 2018.
'The official venue of New York Fashion Week is New York City. The Skylight properties will no longer be an event space, so for season six of NYFW: Men's in January and New York Fashion Week in February, there will no longer be a home base and the shows will be decentralized,' Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, said in a statement.
Given the evolving nature of fashion shows in general, decentralizing NYFW seems only natural at this point, with many designers already going their own route for show locations. Mark Beckham, CFDA's VP of marketing, noted the challenge of fostering fashion's runway changes:
'The entire fashion week landscape is going through tremendous evolution and we want to be sensitive to the needs of the designers and be cost-effective. So if a designer is creating an original film, perhaps they can look at a screening room. If they're planning a casual presentation, maybe an amazing penthouse would be better.'
The CFDA is in the process of searching for a new show venue that could act as a replacement for the lost Skylight Clarkson locations.
