The fashion shows must go on—at least in London, Paris, and Milan. But New York designers will be showing their spring ’21 collections digitally, this month. The world without Fashion Week in New York? How will the designers and editors cope without early breakfast appointments at Sant Ambroeus and Balthazar? What happens when the big September issues languish on newsstands, when cocktail parties and benefits are canceled or reconfigured? There will be no stylists from Paris checking in at the Mercer. No gathering in the lobby, either.
Thunderous Showmanship
I have been attending Fashion Week since 1974. I still remember the debut of Carolina Herrera’s first collection under her own name, which I wrote about for Andy Warhol’s Interviewin 1981. I was seated in the second row, right behind Bianca Jagger. Iman glided down the runway in a slinky ivory silk-panne-velvet gown and a floor-length cloud-like white marabou cape that fell to the floor. Her jewelry imitated the very pieces Mrs. Herrera owns but rarely is seen in these days. When she retired, to become the global ambassador to her brand, at the age of 79, she asked me to come to her final show, in 2018, and I was seated right up in front with her husband, children, grandchildren, and friend Fran Lebowitz, who was seated next to me in AA2. The show was held in the grand lobby of the Museum of Modern Art! Last season, I was back and seated right next to Mrs. Herrera as she viewed the elegant offerings of her creative director, Wes Gordon.
