The End of an Era

The tents that have billowed over fashion's elite at New York Fashion Week for 17 years are coming down forever after a finale show tonight by Tommy Hilfiger.

Hilfiger's fall 2010 collection was to be the last presented in the tents, which hold most of the dozens of previews put on by top designers. The semiannual event moves from the park near Times Square to a plaza within Lincoln Center in September.

"It's the end of an era. The tents have been a great experience," Hilfiger said in WWD Wednesday. "It's an honor to close fashion week, but it's bittersweet."

Bryant Park was close enough to the garment district that designers could be seen wheeling racks of clothes to the tents. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg maintained that Fashion Week had outgrown the tents, and the garment district also changed from its manufacturing heyday, with banks, fast-food restaurants and chain retailers moving in as factories moved out, primarily to Asia.

It takes some three weeks to set up, stage and clean up after the star-studded invitation-only shows. More than 100,000 people have come through the tents this week for eight days of previews, events the city estimates generate $466 million in visitor spending a year.
Hilfiger said he planned to give a nod at his show to everyone who had made Bryant Park what it was. But he conceded that Lincoln Center might be a better place to show off his designs.