This week, a look at some of the fashion brands that are putting on NYFW shows inside their own stores and showrooms as a means of capitalizing on the moment while cutting back on spending.
New York Fashion Week is officially underway, and the calendar is stuffed with both official and unofficial events. And while brands put on a wide variety of shows in different formats and sizes every season, this September sees more brands scaling back the production value.
Derek Lam 10 Crosby, the advanced contemporary womenswear brand, is one such brand. Under new president Danielle Alalu, who took over last year, the brand has been focused on growing its revenue by 70% to $60 million over the next three years through strategic efforts like its NYFW debut last season. In February, the brand put on a presentation at the Crosby Hotel downtown, but this season, it opted for a smaller affair.
“We really wanted to be able to take the customers and the editors back to where it all happens,” Alalu said.
This season’s presentation was held in Derek Lam 10 Crosby’s showroom in NYC’s Chelsea neigborhood. The room where the models showed off the new collection is the same room where that collection was made, Alalu said.
“My biggest takeaway from last season is that it was too big, too chopped up and a little too hard to navigate through the hotel to see everything,” Alalu said. “This season, we really tried to not over-accessorize and make sure the clothing is the focus.”
In contrast, this season’s collection was shown all in one room, with just 10 carefully curated looks using pieces from the collection, so that attendees could see the whole thing in one artfully composed tableau. The benefit of doing it this way is that the actual space required little in the way of set decoration or extra expenses.
“We have all the signage already,” said Yana Popov, the brand’s design director. “The space already reflects the brand. We don’t have to make a new place reflect the brand. This is our home. And the buyers are already familiar with the space because they come in for market appointments.”
Of course, the other benefit of showing in the brand’s own home is that it saves on money. While the Derek Lam 10 Crosby presentation had details like a gelato station and on-site photographers, the venue itself cost no extra money.
The venue is often one of the most expensive parts of organizing a fashion show. Nguyen Tran, founder of the Houston-based fashion brad Le Reussi, which has shown at NYFW in previous seasons, said a venue in New York City can easily run for $50,000 for a single evening’s rental. She estimated that the full cost, including production, lighting, makeup, photography, catering, models and PR, can put the cost of one show anywhere from the low six figures to over $1 million, depending on the scale.
“By positioning shows in store or showroom locations, brands can seamlessly turn attendees, buyers, stylists and media into immediate shoppers,” Tran said. “They experience the collection and can purchase on the spot. This strategy effectively merges marketing and retail, reducing costs by combining presentation and sales efforts in one.”
And Derek Lam 10 Crosby isn’t the only brand doing it this season. Brands like Milly, Tibi and Markarian are hosting shows or presentations in their own stores and showrooms, while brands like Adeam and Sergio Tacchini are hosting intimate dinners, and 3.1 Philip Lim is hosting an invite-only archive sale at its store. All of these formats and venues help alleviate the many small costs that can add up to make an NYFW show unprofitable to put on.
“From my experience producing shows and fashion events, the hidden costs add up fast: a building’s seating, custom lighting rigs, hair and makeup stations, catering, security, insurance,” stylist Julie Matos told Glossy. “Even small details like steamer rentals and a car service for talent stack into five figures quickly. When you stage in your own store, a lot of those logistics are already built in, which is why we’re seeing so many brands take this route.”
These smaller shows are notable as the industry at large looks for ways to pull back on its spending amid tariffs and other market uncertainties. But not every brand is pulling back. On Wednesday evening, L’Agence put on a large-scale show in the Celeste Bartos Forum, a cavernous room in the historic Stephen A. Schwartzman Building in Bryant Park. Loud music, a spinning disco ball and hundreds of guests, including celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, all made for the kind of spectacle that’s becoming rarer to see at NYFW.
“We don’t know how to do small,” said Ashley Bryan, L’Agence’s CMO.
But even L’Agence, which has been on a growth streak in recent years and opened its third store in South Korea this week, is finding ways to share costs. In addition to the Bryant Park presentation on Wednesday, L’Agence will host a full runway show this weekend inside Saks Fifth Avenue.
More NYFW to come
Glossy will have coverage of New York Fashion Week across the site, newsletters and podcasts throughout the rest of the week. Our first NYFW episode, giving a preview of what we expect to see this week and discussing the identity of NYFW compared to Paris, Milan and London, is now live. We’ll have designer interviews and recaps on the podcast, as well, in future episodes.
Other news to know
- The first big strategic move at Kering under new CEO Luca de Meo is to delay the acquisition of Valentino from its current owner Mayhoola. The Kering CEO said it would not fully acquire Valentino until at least 2028, citing debt concerns and the need to take the deal slowly.
- Rachel Scott, creative director of Diotima, was nominated this week for a CFDA Award for Womenswear Designer of the Year. Scott was recently named the new creative director of Proenza Schouler, but she continues to lead Diotima, as well. While her first official Proenza Schouler show will be next season, she was heavily involved with the brand’s collection that will debut this season as a consultant.
- The E.U. moved closer to passing a law that would seek to limit the amount of textile and fashion waste produced each year. The law aims to cut the 25-40% of fabric that goes unused in the process of creating apparel.
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