Jerome Barth talks about the Fifth Avenue Association’s New York Fashion Week exhibition space and its added value

This week until September 13^e, New York Fashion Week on Fifth has unveiled its fashion show event space in the heart of Manhattan, on one of the world’s most iconic streets. The three-story space, called by fashion enthusiasts as 608, has been transformed into a vibrant venue for fashion week events with activations and a runway surrounded by cutting-edge lighting, offering established designers and emerging a platform that complements the official New York Fashion Week (NYFW) calendar.

“The 608 is a 50,000 square foot space with three main levels,” says Jerome Barth, president of the Fifth Avenue Association. “One of the things we love about the space is how transparent it is on the street, and we decided to keep some of that transparency for the event. When people walk into the main room from Fifth Avenue, they’ll immediately see a black wall at the back, because the whole building has a white and black aesthetic, and we’re working with that. The track will be right in front of the participants and they will feel like they are embarking on the track themselves. The ground floor will be used for hairdressing, makeup and staging; and the second floor will be used as a long for presentations and for other brand activations.

Located at 608 Fifth Avenue, between 48^e and 49^e Streets across from Saks Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center, the space gives brands the opulence of New York’s fashion core. The NYFW space and schedule are featured by the Fifth Avenue Association, including shows and presentations by Supima Design Competition, TASOU, Rookie USA, Global Fashion Collective, and Nolcha Shows. Food and drinks from the Parisian tea room Angelina are provided, and there is also an interactive live broadcast from host partner ShopShops.

ShopShops is a global shopping platform, which also debuts for the first time during NYFWonFifth. According to NYFW on Fifth Notes, ShopShops has an engagement of over 2 million global audiences that includes interactive consumer experiences, live streaming of fashion shows, and an interactive NYFW style contest. This interactive medium gives designers the ability to view their collections virtually through the ShopShops app.

Show schedule for September 2021:

Supima design competition Thursday September 9 – 12 p.m.

-Welcome by famous stylist Law Roach, 6 finalists from the country’s top fashion schools will present their collections to an esteemed panel of judges, one winner will receive a prize of $ 10,000

Rookie United States – Thursday September 9 – 4 p.m.

– Premium showcase reserved for children from brands such as Levi’s, Nike, Jordan, Converse, Hurley and 3BRAND

World Fashion Collective I – Saturday September 11 – 11 a.m.

– Parades of C’Est D, Irene de la Vega, Sanjukta’s Studio

World Fashion Collective II – Saturday September 11 – 2 p.m.

-Parades of Unusual, Saint Jesus, Blue Tamburin

Albright College – Saturday September 11 – 7 p.m.

-Collections from one of the first fashion schools

KavenLiu, Dimor Koreano and KLOVA for Nolcha – Sunday September 12 – 8 p.m.

“There are all kinds of assets on Fifth Avenue that we have been fortunate enough to work with with the 608 property to make this opportunity a reality for this fashion season. We hope that our program will be a strong introduction to the future of the event and that we will be able to increase NYFW’s presence on Fifth Avenue, ”said Barth.

He and his team, as well as the owner of the 608, recognize that their iconic location is not enough to impact NYFW and sales on its own. Over the Big Four World Fashion Weeks, many fashion players have said they believe New York Week is losing its influence compared to Paris. CFDA President and Fashion Designer Tom Ford has strived to maintain NYFW for 5 days to make it more exclusive and accentuate New York’s presence ahead of siblings Milan, Paris and London. 608 and the Fifth Avenue Association believe they are in a position to help influence NYFW.

“We’re trying to inject new energy into the event and a great opportunity for fashion in America in general, but with NYFW in particular, it’s the connection to the consumer. It’s one of the things that 608 can bring, it’s not just the extraordinary backdrop of Saks, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center, but it all has to translate into sales. We believe we are opening a door that can be a conversation larger on the model of how NYFW can evolve into this. My hope is that the designers exhibiting find their way onto the shelves of Bergdorf Goodman and Saks. Proximity is not going to hurt.

Continuing, he said: “Although 608 is an iconic place, it must be maintained. We need to support the site with ideas, talent, creativity, designers and people creating great content today. Just as Halston was on Fifth Avenue in his day, we need to be there and support today’s creators on Fifth Avenue.

608 shows that luxury stores are bringing that connection back to the global consumer at New York Fashion Week, “and that’s a big investment,” Barth says. “We are fortunate that our stakeholders are willing to take a long-term view, which is that when something is produced on Fifth Avenue, it has to be produced at the highest level of quality. For the shows presented with us, we want it to be a fantastic experience from the perspective of the designers, attendees, staff and press so people say “wow, that makes perfect sense, we should be doing more. . ‘

608 also follows New York City and CDC Covid_19 regulations requiring the wearing of masks, limited carrying capacity, vaccine requirements. “We are very fortunate that New York is doing well with vaccinations. We follow the guidelines set by the Council on Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which has partnered with us throughout this process. Covid is like taxes, it will be with us forever, but we can no longer hide and we need to live our lives and make the most of it. We apply the best security standards for the quality of the event.

An event that 608 and the Fifth Avenue Association plan to return in February for NYFW. But for this season, they are excited about the designers presented for the spring-summer 2022 season.