Twenty-seven years ago, a woman named Fern Mallis was the director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She realized that the industry needed a unified way for fashion buyers to get an understanding of where fashion was going next and a way to give fashion media a coherent presentation. Being able to see multiple fashion shows together would enable buyers to make their best choices and be a boost to New York where U.S. fashion shows were centered. It would enable more efficient production, then in the process of moving to Asia where long lead times were needed. Mallis organized Fashion Week, coordinating the fashion industry to show its collections all in one week, It created an annual event for New York City and helped the industry select the next season’s fashion more efficiently.

A lot has changed since 1993. Mallis, who has created Fashion Weeks for many municipalities and regions all over the world in her own consulting firm, says, “now is a time to shake up and reset everything.” Coronavirus is the latest reason to question whether a week of runway shows still works, but that’s only the latest problem. There’s a lot more weighing in against Fashion Week than ever before.

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