Mayor Eric Adams plans to put fashion designers in the spotlight next month as New York City tries to bounce back from the economic fallout and largely empty offices wrought by the pandemic.
On September 8th, the eve of New York Fashion Week, Adams will host a cocktail party at the Gracie Mansion to celebrate the upcoming show. Stephen Kolb, CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and Anna Wintour, Chief Content Officer at Condé Nast and Editor-in-Chief and Chief Her Global Director at Vogue, will co-host the event.
The mayor’s office said Tuesday it has no details available at this time, but additional information will be provided closer to the date.
A spokesman for the CFDA declined to comment further, and a spokesman for Condé Nast was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
Adams has already shown his support for the city’s fashion scene with appearances at the Met Gala in May, Ralph Lauren’s runway show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in March, and Michael Kors’ runway show in February. Six weeks into his inauguration, Adams announced a partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to create new jobs for New Yorkers, expand Brooklyn’s fashion industry, and strengthen the city’s economy. Shortly thereafter, in his interview with WWD earlier this year, Adams swore: [it needs]”
Despite his high-spirited demeanor and self-professed “boasting,” Adams tackles issues such as public safety, homelessness control, subway crime, street drug exposure, and hygiene issues.
In an August 10 op-ed, New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wilde’s partnership highlighted how Adams was elected to make the city safe and livable, and how the police on the subway We’re increasing our presence and creating an “unprecedented situation. We’re reducing the number of guns on the streets, expanding psychiatric beds and services, and strengthening our garbage storage and collection policies.”
While some of Adams’ predecessors, including Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg, have welcomed crowds of designers to the historic Upper East Side mayor’s mansion during previous Fashion Weeks, next month’s bash will not be as popular with voters. It can be a much-needed reminder for both tourists. New York City is the epicenter of fashion, but its ecosystem of designers, manufacturers, retailers, stylists, influencers, and photographers is also important to New York City’s economy.
Adams has been vocal about the city opening up to business in recent months, but tourism has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. million visitors are expected, representing about 85% of the 66.6 million visitors in 2019. Meanwhile, some city businesses, developers and landlords want a post-Labor Day boost as some businesses and businesses require employees to return to the office at least a few days a week. .
In mid-June, the city’s office occupancy exceeded 40% for the first time since it closed in March 2020, according to Kastle Systems, which monitors occupancy rates in 10 cities. A New York City nonprofit partnership, which surveys more than 160 major employers to track occupancy rates, found that return-to-office rates rose after Labor Day, with 49% of workers returning to work the following weekday. We anticipate that you will be in the office on Moon. The update is expected to be released next month, according to a spokesperson for the organization.
Before the pandemic hit, New York Fashion Week was known to be a major contributor to the city’s economy, attracting 150,000 attendees and generating nearly $600 million in 2019. Tom Ford said he plans to finish it on the night of September 14th. More than 109 designers have been confirmed for the tentative show schedule.
The connection between the fashion world and the Gracie Mansion is tight. In 1927, WWD reported on plans for a reception and exhibition featuring “old New York costumes and heirlooms of famous New York families.” The selection included a variety of ball gowns from 1800 (to mark the date of the Gracie Mansion building) and his decade-by-decade styles through the early 20th century.
In 2014, former Mayor de Blasio hosted a fashion week kickoff party attended by Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren and Tory Burch. De Blasio also took the opportunity to announce Made in NYC’s expansion into the apparel industry, the first of his two awards for the Fashion Production Fund.
His predecessor, Bloomberg, welcomed the fashion world to the Gracie Mansion in 2003 for the 10th anniversary celebration of 7th on Sixth. NYFW’s late-afternoon event was attended by few big-name designers, but models like Alex Wek and Maggie Rizer.
Other New York City mayors use the Gracie Mansion as a host to the fashion and beauty industry for different reasons. At the 1995 Breakfast, Rudy Giuliani, then-Mayor of New York City, and his then-wife, Donna, Hanover, hosted a breakfast with 80 retail and manufacturing executives, who attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. has started its annual scholarship fundraising campaign.
As far back as 1977, Mayor Abraham Beam hosted parties for the New York Fashion Council and local and suburban retailers, and designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, and Giorgio Sant’Angelo attended Summer Nights. to the sound of Peter Durchin under the yellow and white tent of the Gracie Mansion. According to WWD, guests were reportedly more interested in Bloomingdale’s Cal Rattenstein’s next career move than the upcoming mayoral election.