Mercedes Benz Fashion Week S/S 2011
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week First Season in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
The move of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to Lincoln Center has allowed IMG Fashion to unveil event upgrades such as modernized production capabilities for designers, digital services concurrent with the advanced needs of the 21st Century, better accessibility for attendees through both public and private transportation and great resources/facilities on-site and in the surrounding areas.
“This is a very exciting day for us,” said Peter Levy, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of IMG Fashion Worldwide. “The move has allowed IMG to reinvent and improve so many aspects of Mercedes-
Benz Fashion Week as well as develop a stronger link to the surrounding facilities and spaces available at Lincoln Center and the neighborhood.
“This is the first season in what we are confident will be a long run at Lincoln Center.” Said Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Director of Fashion, Lincoln Center, “We are delighted to provide Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week with a new home and an extraordinary array of possibilities. Over the past few years, Lincoln Center has undergone a transformation, resulting in a campus that is aesthetically spectacular as well as extremely accessible. We look forward to providing the fashion industry with one central location for activities in and around the tents. In addition, we plan to welcome consumers with a dynamic array of opportunities to engage with the art of fashion.”
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, which will be held from September 9 to 16, willimplement a number of technical enhancements to adjust with the changing needs of the fashion community. These upgrades include; a gracious lobby to better accommodate designer guests, press and industry professionals; modified runway theaters and modular designer spaces that support advanced production capabilities; expanded lighting and digital design resources; new décor and increased venue/runway sizes and seating enhancements. The event will continue to host three runway venues, and has added a fourth presentation space for designer presentations, industry forums, press conferences and other activities. The venue cost to each designer will remain the same as in previous seasons of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is also moving into the 21st Century with a host of digital age tools for the fashion industry, designers, PR firms and fashion fans. The event, whose fundamental mission has always been to “organize, centralize and modernize” the American collections, has applied this mantra to its dynamic website: http://newyork.mbfashionweek.com/ which was launched August 23, 2010 and has implemented new digital tools to create state of the art registration, credentialing and seating systems that integrate the registration, invitation and check-in process for attendees.
This season, press credentials come with a unique bar code and pretty photo of their owner. If you have press credentials and are RSVP’d under your name for a show, you can scan your bar code at the airport-esque kiosk, get a printout of your seat assignment, and be on your way. The photos are to prevent the credentials from getting passed around to or stolen by people who shouldn’t have them. If you try to get past security at the entrance with someone else’s credentials that you found on the ground or something, guards may not let you in. But you can still get in without credentials if, say, you’re just on the list for one show. Read on for details.
Individuals RSVP’d for shows will receive seating confirmation via e-mail. These will get you past Lincoln Center security guards. The e-mail will have a bar code that attendees can scan at the kiosks to print seat assignments and get in. If, last-minute, you are not able to go to a show, you can alert the show’s PR team and send a substitute with your e-mail. The bar code on the e-mail can be scanned from a smartphone or a printed piece of paper. Once your seat is scanned in, if a devious person who shouldn’t have the ticket gets their hands on it and tries to scan it in, they won’t be able to. And in case technology fails you, real people will be on hand to check you in. However, this season, they’ll have computers instead of tedious gigantic binders full of lists. But again, once you’re checked into the online system, no one else can get in under your name.
Design houses participating for the Springn2011 season include:
Academy of Art University, ADAM, Adrienne Vittadini, Alexander Berardi, Andy & Debb, Argentina Group Show, Badgley Mischka, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Betsey Johnson, Bibhu Mohapatra, Bill Blass, Binetti, Buckler, Carlos Miele, Charlotte Ronson, Christian Siriano, Concept Korea, Custo Barcelona, Cynthia Rowley, Davidelfin, Dennis Basso, Duckie Brown, EDITION Georges Chakra, Elie Tahari, Farah Angsana, General Idea, Gottex, Herchcovitch, Alexandre, Hervé Léger by Max Azria, Isaac Mizrahi, IVANAHelsinki, J. Mendel, Jenny Packham, L.A.M.B., Lela Rose, Luca Luca, Mackage, Max Azria, Michael Angel, Milly By Michelle Smith, Monique Lhuillier, Monique Péan, Naeem Khan, Nanette Lepore, Nicholas K, Odd Molly, Perry Ellis, Ports 1961, Rebecca Moses, Rebecca Taylor, Richie Rich, Rosa Cha, Ruffian, Sophie Theallet, Tadashi Shoji, Tibi, Timo Weiland, TONYCOHEN, Tory Burch, Tracy Reese, Trias, Vassilios Kostetsos, Verrier, Vivienne Tam, William Tempest, Yoana Baraschi And Zang Toi.
Each year, the 232,000 attendees at Fashion Weeks generate new economic activity for New York City businesses, accounting for more than $466 million in direct visitor spending and contributing to $1.6 billion in annual tax revenue to the City‟s fashion industry. For the businesses surrounding Lincoln Center specifically – the restaurants, hotels, and retailers – as well as the thousands of caterers, security, and service workers staffing the shows, relocating Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will result in economic benefits. More than $40 million annually is spent on meals at local restaurants; nearly $30 million on taxis, Town Cars, and public transportation; and an additional $56 million at area hotels. Are you ready for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week S/S 2011??
Mr.G / Luis Soto
Co Editor