Designer Promotional Clothing and Bryant Park’s Fashion Week

Friday 19th of February 2010 07:18:58 PM

Bryant Park is in the heart of the New York City garment district. Once a section of the city that employed 200,000 workers in the 1970s, it is now just a small version of that once thriving arena. Garment jobs have largely moved overseas where clothing can be made so much cheaper due to lower wages.

Bryant Park has been the spot for the invitation only annual Fashion Week for many years. Designers each year have models strut their newest brands and styles. Designer promotional clothing was always present as were odd styles that most people would not dare try wearing. But that didn’t stop thousands from attending the show annually.

After holding the show for so many years in the garment district, next year it moves to Lincoln Center. The reason for the move is due to a dispute between park management and the designers. The dispute has been ongoing for a long while, and with no resolution in sight, the show finally decided to change locations. There are many concerns that this move will destroy the image of the New York fashion industry as a collective unit.

Bryant Park is undergoing a radical change as the garment industry scatters. In the past, as the fashion show tents went up, people anticipated the new designs ranging from embroidered shirts to men’s suits. Holding a fashion show in a garment district only seemed to make sense. The annual show evolved over a period time because until 1991 the fashion shows were held in a number of smaller venues around the city. But once the designers came together top display creations at a single show, the number of tents grew and became symbolic of a thriving fashion industry.

Change is inevitable, but many in New York are saddened by the news that the Fashion Week will be leaving Bryant Park. It is the end of an era.