New York City is getting ready for Fashion Week more than never and Saks Fifth Avenue brings something very special for the welcoming for the season. For two weeks, the department store’s flagship is going to host a parade of windows with the most trendy and important American Fashion Brands of the moment.
Saks Fifth Avenue wants to demonstrate their support to homegrown fashion during a moment when American designers could use a boost, and it works as a great showcase for all the people that are going to come from around the world for this fashion week.
“The whole state of American fashion is going through a change (…) For the last few seasons, there’s been a lot of discussions, a lot of conversations about the calendar, and New York Fashion Week, and what American fashion means today. We felt it was a really important moment to celebrate American fashion and creativity.” said Roopal Patel, Saks’ senior vice president and fashion director, to WWD.
The best part of this innovated initiative is Saks gave freedom to all the designers to create their own windows. They were able to reflect on their own concepts and aesthetics in their windows, showing the scent of each brand.
“We basically gave them the measurements of the windows and said, ‘Here’s a white box. You create your vision. What would you like your brand to stand for in this moment and celebration of American fashion?’” said Patel, to WWD.
The execution of each display was done in collaboration with Saks’ production team, but each brand was responsible for its own design and installation costs, which apparently is standard practice for the store.
The center six Saks Fifth Avenue windows will feature designer windows by Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, Carolina Herrera, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren. There are also windows of: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang, Brandon Maxwell, Derek Lam, Gabriela Hearst, Jason Wu, Jonathan Simkhai, Monse, Proenza Schouler, Rosie Assoulin, Alice & Olivia, Coach, Diane von Furstenberg, Eileen Fisher, Lafayette 148, Lela Rose, Milly, Naeem Khan, Rag & Bone, Tanya Taylor and Tibi.
“It’s not the intention to remind everyone who the American designers are. The customer is very aware. We have a customer who comes here during New York Fashion Week, attends the shows and visits our designers’ showrooms and studios for more up-close interactions. It’s very important that we as a community celebrate American designers and American fashion at these key moments … When we come in September, it always is about New York Fashion Week. So, it’s a wonderful synergy.” Said Patel to WWD.
