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Editorial: Is New York Fashion Week Too Commercial?
New York Fashion Week Spring 2004
By: Mari Davis
DALLAS, Jul 30, 2003/ FW/ --- Every season, there is always a grouse or two who complain and accuse
New York Fashion Week of being 'too commercial'.
I do not agree with the complainers and here are my reasons why.
First let us define 'commercial'.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary has several meanings listed. As an adjective it can mean
several things.
- occupied with or engaged in commerce or work intended for commerce as in commercial artist
- of or relating to commerce as in commercial regulations
- characteristic of commerce as in commercial weights
- suitable, adequate, or prepared for commerce as in found oil in commercial quantities
- being of an average or inferior quality as in show quality versus commercial cattle
- producing artistic work of low standards for quick market success
- viewed with regard to profit as in commercial success
- designed for a large market
- emphasizing skills and subjects useful in business
- supported by advertisers as in commercial TV
Obviously meanings (2) and (3) are not what the 'commercial' accusation is about.
Number 9 is more for education and training, while Number 1 is a maybe. We will go
back to #1 once we have discussed the others.
Number 10 is obvious - "supported by advertisers as in commercial TV". New York Fashion
Week is supported by advertisers, the biggest of them all, Mercedes Benz. In fact, the show
is named after it - 'Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.'
Before that, it was 'General Motors New York Fashion Week'. And for Spring 2004 season, there is
a long list of sponsors which include VOGUE Magazine, W Hotels, Shu Uemura, Redken, Style Channel,
Silhouette Eyewear, Ortho Evra, Luxe Concierge, The New York Times, and Olympus, among others.
Organizing a fashion show is very expensive. New York Fashion Week does not get any funding
from the federal and state governments, even before it was sold to IMG.
The organizers has to find funding somewhere, and where do you go to get large sums of money?
Corporate America!
Corporations in general are always willing to 'help the community.' The
U.S. goverment, whether at the federal or state level actually encourage it, by giving
'tax breaks.'
It is called 'giving back to the community.' Companies can choose what 'project' they
want to support and some of them choose fashion.
Fern Mallis who has been the Executive Director of 7th on Sixth (organizers of New York Fashion
Week) before and after its sale to IMG has been very successful in attracting big
companies to lend their support for the shows.
And that is a big feat by itself. Fern Mallis and 7th on Sixth should be commended for
their hard work.
Unlike other cities which get goverment funding (meaning it is your tax dollars at work),
New York Fashion Week is self-supporting. There is no committee at the U.S. Senate for
fashion, nor is fashion mentioned in the Senate Appropriations Fund hearings.
So, if the accusation that New York Fashion Week is 'too commercial' mean that it is
'supported by advertisers', then yes, it is commercial. And as an American, I'm glad,
because none of my tax dollars is used to support the shows.
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