New York Fashion Week…the event conjures up so many things for anyone involved in the Fashion Industry. But what is it? When did it start? Why is participating in NY Fashion Week such a big deal? Let’s start with the first question.
NY is one of 4 cities where fashion collections are shown twice a year to the press, buyers and the public.
NY Fashion Week grew out of a promotional event called Press Week in the 1940s. During World War II, suffice to say it was a tad difficult for fashion industry leaders to travel to Paris to view the French Fashion collections. Attending a show was the best way for magazine editors and retail buyers to know what was going on in fashion and discover trends. Press Week decided to highlight American designers and show their collections in NY. This marked a turning point, and over decades would established NY as an important capital in the world of fashion.
This brings us to the last question. Why is it such a big deal? Basically, you need to be invited to NY Fashion Week. Not everyone can roll out their carpet and participate. After all, fashion is a BIG business worth billions, and NY Fashion Week generates hundreds of millions of dollars. So it’s taken quite seriously!
Fast forward 60 years and Millinery Treasures was honored to be a part of the magical event that is NY Fashion Week. It’s kind of like being asked to be part of the halftime show at the Super Bowl…even if you’re really only part of the marching band that steps foot on the field after Shakira has performed…it is magical. So let me pull back the curtain and share my experience with NY Fashion Week.
NY Fashion Week Invitation
Towards the end of the summer, a very talented designer from Celestino Couture texted me about some exciting news. They had been invited to show a collection during NY Fashion Week. The timing was tight. They had 6 weeks to create 10-12 looks. They asked if I would like to create hats for several of the key pieces. There are so many steps involved in creating a collection. From inspiration to sketches, from fabric selection to sewing, from model selection to photography, the list of things to do can feel endless. Obviously, I agreed.
NY Fashion Week Inspiration
We set up a time to talk about the inspiration. The owners of Celestino Couture were feeling very upset by the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade the landmark case that granted Federal protection for women to have an abortion. I’m not interested in debating the issue, but I will share that I firmly support a woman’s right to choose. Celestino Couture wanted to use their fashion bully pulpit to highlight their outrage over the case. The collection was called Female Empowerment.
We started talking about what that meant to them and what their collection would look like. During the discussion, the image of a coat hanger kept popping up. I shared that millinery wire looks like coat hanger wire and asked if that was a direction that we wanted to pursue? What if we could make the headpieces out of actual coat hangers? The challenge would be in evolving the headpieces from a “coat hanger” to a sartorial splendor.
NY Fashion Week Sketches
A few days later, I came back with some sketches and some thoughts about the types of pieces that might work for their collection at NY Fashion Week. It was a starting point. Inspiration can take time, at least it does for me. I find that my brain needs to simmer, almost like a stew before the best ideas spring forth. Unfortunately, the NY Fashion Week show was a few weeks away. It was imperative to start making the NY Fashion Week pieces.
NY Fashion Week Models
When creating an editorial or runway piece it’s critical to figure out exactly how the model is going to wear the piece. The pieces need to go on quickly and stay on! After all, you don’t want a headpiece falling off midway down the catwalk. Finally, the headpieces need to accommodate a variety of head sizes. Some models were being finalized a few days before the show so the pieces couldn’t be created for a specific model’s head size. These were just some of the elements that can trip up a less experienced milliner.
NY Fashion Week Headpiece Construction
We wanted to make the headpieces using actual coat hangers. That meant the first issue was to find enough coat hangers to make all the headpieces. My initial calculation called for 100 wire hangers. There are many types of wire hangers as I soon discovered. That wasn’t a problem so long as I used the same type of wire hanger for an individual headpiece. Mixing hangers in the headpiece would NOT give me the level of artistry needed. While we could have purchased new hangers, Celestino Couture strongly believes in sustainability and wanted to use existing hangers for their NY Fashion Week collection. Fortunately, Thrift 2 Fight in Tivoli, NY provided us with tons of metal coat hangers for the NY Fashion Week show.
It was time to get to work. The hangers had to be cut, straightened, and shaped. Pliers became my best friend. Working with wire is a very precise task. Slight differences in length or placement become magnified. Suffice to say that it took quite a while for everything to line up. This was a good point to check in with Celestino and ensure that what I was creating was what they were envisioning. We all wanted to avoid last-minute changes so ongoing communication was vital to meeting the tight timeline of the fast-approaching NY Fashion Week show.
Cartwheel Headpiece
NY Fashion Week More Construction Details
Once the pieces were assembled, I needed to figure out how to achieve the right color in keeping with Celestino’s designs for NY Fashion Week. My first thought was to use spray paint. Great idea, for the Cartwheel headpiece but not for the Goddess headpiece. The color that I wanted for the Goddess couldn’t be found. I could have mixed my own colors but I was hesitant to airbrush the hangers given the tight timing. Metal can be tricky and requires a special type of paint to adhere properly. Instead, I decided to wrap the Goddess headpiece in embroidery thread as I found the perfect color match. This saved me the effort of dyeing the thread to match the color of the fabric. As a milliner, I sometimes spend as much time preparing the materials as actually making the hat. Decades ago, there were companies available to outsource the steps. Alas, these industries are no longer around. Instead, milliners learn how to perform so many different steps, which takes time. Speaking of which, wrapping the hangers with embroidery thread took HOURS. Brewing a cup of tea (or two or three) and watching romcoms (translation: romantic comedy movies) helped with the monotony of wrapping and preserved my sanity.
Goddess Headpiece
NY Fashion Week The Big Night
Before I knew it, I was headed down to NY Fashion Week. Working behind the scene is fabulous. There is always so much energy and enthusiasm as everyone gets ready for the show. Celestino and I had already done a dry run with the headpieces, and I had shown the models how to wear them.
At one point while the models were waiting to go on, the model wearing the Goddess piece almost hit an exit sign hanging from the ceiling. I called out and she froze in place. She looked at me, smiled, and shared that she forgot that she was wearing her Goddess headpiece. That’s when I smiled and knew that I had done my job at NY Fashion Week. The model was so in tune with her headpiece and gown that she forgot that she was wearing something on her head. That was the ultimate millinery compliment.
NY Fashion Week Hats by Millinery Treasures
Velvet
Cartwheel
Goddess
NY Fashion Week
Click to see more images of the Millinery Treasures and Celestino Couture Collaboration for NY Fashion Week
