IMG senior VP Fern Mallis steps down to start her own company

New York, NY
IMG senior VP Fern Mallis, who helms Fashion Week, is stepping down to start her own consulting company! She's calling it Fern Mallis LLC, and today is her last day at IMG. Mallis has been Fashion Week's planner since the event began eighteen years ago, when she was executive director of the CFDA. She said the move had been a long time coming. �When we were planning the move to Lincoln Center, it felt like closure, like the end of the cycle," she told WWD.

With IMG Fashion as her first client, Mallis won't abandon Fashion Week entirely. But with her stepping down from IMG as the veritable face of the event, Fashion Week moving to Lincoln Center, and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff signing on as Fashion Week director (a brand-new position), it sounds like we're in for a hugely different Fashion Week come September.

Peter Som pulls out of Fashion Week

A look from Peter Som Spring 2009 Collection, Photo by Ed Kavishe/fashionwirepress.com
Designer Peter Som, who announced yesterday that he is ending his joint venture with investor Creative Design Studios, is exploring options for the fall season. Mr. Som has already canceled his runway show, which would have taken place during fashion week next month in New York.

Fashion Week Face-Off: Justin Timberlake vs. Barbie

PH:Getty Images
It has been confirmed that Justin Timberlake will be staging at show at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week. Right around that time another sexy lady Barbie will be celebrating her 50th Anniversary all week with a runway show of her own. Noted designers Anna Sui and Vera Wang are among those slated to send creations down the catwalk in the doll's honor, and Christian Louboutin has created custom Barbie-pink shoes for the event.
The dapper dude and demure doll aren't the only stars heading to the tents...
Despite several major designers dropping out of this season's festivities—Wang, Betsey Johnson and Monique Lhuillier—there will still be plenty of star power. In addition to J.T. and Babs, the week kicks off with the Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection, which typically sends celebs down the catwalk in stunning scarlet confections. The Fall 2008 show featured Liza Minnelli, Sara Ramirez, Jenna Fischer, Allison Janney, Ashanti and Heidi Klum, to name a few.
Earlier in the week, season four winner Christian Siriano is planning to show off his latest collection inspired by Egypt.

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