Nestled in a specially constructed lounge above the front-row throngs, a group of fashion lovers sip champagne as they peer through a one-way mirror at the runway shows taking place this week in Bryant Park.
The guests, about 26 at any one sitting, include soccer moms, businessmen, husbands and wives and twentysomething women, not the usual editors, store buyers and celebrities who constitute Fashion Week VIPs.
American Express, a first-time sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, created the lounge and sold about 450 packages (at $100 and $200 apiece) to Platinum, Gold and Centurion cardholders, in a move designed to make one of fashion’s most exclusive events more available to the general public.
Ever since the sports-marketing firm IMG purchased the Seventh on Sixth fashion shows from the Council of Fashion Designers in February 2001, sponsors have occupied a growing presence, splashing their logos across the tents and even arranging for their products to be carried by models down the runway. Sponsors also typically get a handful of tickets – maybe 40 out of 1,000 for the large venues – to dole out to preferred customers.
Some of these moves have grated on designers, who feel the carnival atmosphere takes away from the seriousness of the event.
IMG argues that sponsors, who pay $50,000 to $300,000, are necessary to help defray the huge costs of the shows. Meanwhile, the average person has become increasingly aware of fashion thanks to TV shows like Bravo’s “Project Runway,” the Internet and partnerships between designers and mass merchants such as Target, making the runway shows as much a cultural event as an industry gathering.
W Hotels Worldwide has increased the number of “Catwalk” packages it offered this year to 18 from nine.
“The appeal for our guests is access to an experience that isn’t available to the general public,” said Rebecca Rand, a W Hotels spokeswoman.
The packages, which start at $895, include VIP tickets to a runway show, cocktails and a spa treatment at Bliss among other amenities.
About a half dozen high school teachers were scheduled to attend the Gottex show last night, courtesy of shipping giant DHL, which has partnered with TeachersCount, a nonprofit that aims to raise the status of teachers. Among those invited were Zac Posen’s English literature teacher from Saint Ann’s private school in Brooklyn Heights. Posen has designed a special tote bag to raise money for the group.
The American Express lounge was designed as a “stealth” way for ordinary people to get a taste of the runway, said spokeswoman Desiree Fish. It sits above and between two venues, “the Tent” and “the Promenade.”
Since the seats are extra, they don’t take away from space that designers intended to allocate to editors and buyers, said Fern Mallis, vice president of IMG Fashion. “Ultimately,” she said, “the food chain stops with the consumer. American Express cardholders are the type of people we hope will buy these clothes.”