New York Fashion Week -Monique Lhuillier, Naeem Khan Decide Against February Runway Shows

Naeem Khan F/W 2008
Photo:fashionwirepress.com
Two more designers, Monique Lhuillier and Naeem Khan, have decided against staging runway shows at New York’s fashion week in February.

Eveningwear designer Ms. Lhuillier, who has staged shows for 500 to 600 retailers and press at the New York fashion week tent in Bryant Park for at least six years, will instead debut her Fall 2009 collection in a more intimate showroom setting, says Paul Wilmot, whose public-relations firm Paul Wilmot Communications, represents Ms. Lhuillier. Mr. Khan, whom Mr. Wilmot’s firm also represents, will also skip the tent next month in favor of an informal presentation.

The designers join a host of labels that recently announced that they would do presentations instead of runway shows in February in order to save money or cut costs during the recession. Designers Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson, Temperley London and Carmen Marc Valvo announced in December that they would forgo their usual 1,000-guest shows at fashion week in favor or smaller presentations.

Runway shows at the Bryant Park tent typically cost upwards of $100,000. But Mr. Wilmot says Ms. Lhuillier and Mr. Khan didn’t change their plans because of the economy. He says he’s unsure whether either designer will spend less by staging a presentation instead of a runway show as it would depend on details such as the type of venue rented. He noted that there was the possibility of trimming costs at a presentation by cutting back on the number of models used (and therefore also spending less on hair and makeup) because the more informal format might allow each model to wear more than just one or two outfits.

“We just wanted to do something different, shake things up a little bit – it’ll sell the clothes differently,” he says, adding that the presentation format will allow press and retailers to chat with the designers and examine the clothing up close. “Before, there’s that one degree of separation — the press and the buyers get a different sense of the clothing when they’re flying past you on the runway as opposed to being able to stand next to them and having the fashion designer talk about the clothes.”

Mr. Wilmot says he isn’t worried about losing press coverage or retailers not stopping by – he notes that a presentation,which will last two hours and allow guests to drop in at any point, allows fashion week attendees to squeeze the event into their busy schedules. “It’s a much easier time slot to finagle,” he says.

Source. WSJ