Last September, Kanye West — New York Fashion Week’s patron saint of controversy — ticked off actual designers by adding his Adidas show to the schedule at the eleventh hour. He’s done it again this year, announcing a last-minute NYFW catwalk-slash-album-drop at Madison Square Garden for Feb. 11, an extravaganza (complete with concession snacks and swag) that will be open to the public and screened live in theaters worldwide.
Former WWD fotog Steve Eichner, whose new site NameFace helps identify fashion show VIPs, praises West for selling those MSG tickets for more than $100, along with FW swag like a $480 Kanye West jean jacket. “I think he’s ahead of the curve,” Eichner tells Threads. “It’s brilliant . . . We’re a capitalist society, why not jump on it?”
Even West’s Twitter frenemy, NYFW founder Fern Mallis (who last year told Threads, “I’m kind of over Kanye”), snagged a ticket to this year’s big show. “I’m pleased that I got it,” she says. Eichner argues that “the way it’s going, Fashion Week will almost be like a tourist attraction.” Other designers agree that it’s time to make their shows more consumer-friendly. Designer Rebecca Minkoff is filling 150 of her seats this week with real customers. “The current fashion show system isn’t working,” she says. Meanwhile, Minkoff, Burberry and Tom Ford all recently announced that they will time their shows to match the season the clothes are for sale.
And West’s of-the-moment, come-one-come all carnival approach may have an added bonus, notes Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive: “It’s always fun to get a hot dog.”