Fashion Week by the Numbers

New York City is currently awash with the couture elite. But what does such fabulousness cost? And is it worth it?

by Alina Dizik

Even though a typical runway show only lasts about 600 seconds, fashion industry executives understand that they can still reap benefits months, even years, later. So while New York Fashion Week (BusinessWeek, 9/15/06) runway shows can rack up huge bills, fashion brands—no matter their size—can't seem to help but indulge in hefty investments in an attempt to create a memorable presentation.

As it turns out, costs don't have to be astronomical. Tracy Reese, a New York designer showing her women's wear collection on Sept. 7, is celebrating her brand's 10-year anniversary in low-key style. She's chosen to display her wares inside Bryant Park's midsize space, the Promenade, which can be rented for $36,000 (which includes lighting, a basic stage, access to the list of 3,500 registered press members, and the dozens of volunteers needed to help get everything done within the four hours allocated to each designer).

Factoring in the cost of models, additional lighting, music, and PR agency fees, Om Batheja, Reese's business partner, estimates that the show's total cost will come to somewhere between $90,000 and $100,000, a price that has been fairly consistent for the past six years.

More Money For More Muscle

For the first years of the label's existence, Reese chose not to stage a runway show at all. "We thought shows were intangible and we didn't need to have a presence," remembers Batheja. But after four years of so-so business, the partners realized that staging a runway show was the only surefire way to get on the fashion world's radar. Since their first show, they've sold substantial amounts of inventory to department stores such as Nordstrom (JWN) and Neiman Marcus, while this year Batheja has his sights set on Japan's tony Hankyu (HNKDF) store. "A show signaled potential buyers to take us more seriously as a brand," he says.

For Nautica's (VFC) first runway show in three years, 350 guests showed up at Bryant Park's smallest venue, the Salon, which costs about $25,000. But the label's expenses were higher because of props. Its intricate set-design included a Plexiglas runway intended to look like ocean water, a matching backdrop, an elaborate team of videographers and photographers, and bulkier-than-usual male models (who were harder to find and book).

"It's like having a white canvas," says Mirian Lamberth, Nautica's creative director, of showing in Bryant Park. In other words, the venue acts as the foundation on which a brand can then demonstrate its creativity.

Recouping the Investment

Of course, not all designers opt to take part in the organized chaos at Fashion Week's official venue in Manhattan's Bryant Park. A number of years ago, after several years of small-scale fashion shows, Robert Duffy, business partner of then little-known fashion designer Marc Jacobs, invested the equivalent of $160,000 in a customizable system of bleacher-style seats.

Since then, those same bleachers have regularly been pulled out of storage and set up in locations such as the 69th Regiment Armory to seat the throngs of press and buyers that attend every show. And even though the initial investment seemed steep, Duffy, now the president of LVMH (LVMH)-owned Marc Jacobs International, says that it was paid for within several years by sales from the shows.