When the Fashion Week invitations started pouring in last month—events by BCBGMaxAzria, Rebecca Minkoff and Nicole Miller among them—Bryce Gruber, 29, envisioned the outfits she’d wear and all the air kissing she’d be doing.
But instead of feasting on a diet of fashion shows, fizzy drinks and truffled hors d’oeuvres, she’ll be in synagogue, pondering the meaning of atonement against a backdrop of liturgical hymns.
“Literally every major event is planned the first night of Rosh Hashana,” fumes the Luxury Spot blogger, who hasn’t missed the biannual event in nine years.
The Jewish New Year—one of the most important days on the Jewish calendar—began at sundown yesterday and continues through sundown tomorrow, just in time for the high holydays of Fashion Week, which starts today and runs through Sept. 12.
“I kindly responded to several invites with ‘Sorry, it’s one of the most important Jewish holidays so I can’t make this one. Keep me in the loop for next time!’” says Gruber.
“I got responses ranging from, ‘Just come after your holiday dinner is over’ to ‘But the gift bags are insane. Are you sure?’ ” Still, she says no amount of exotic animal skin can tempt her: “A crocodile coin purse is hardly enough to [get me to] ditch my faith.”
For many fashionistas of the faith, the hottest accessory this fall may be a matzo-ball-size dose of Jewish guilt: Do those who normally pray at the altar of Chanel score bonus points with the almighty fashion establishment or the Almighty himself?
“It’s almost asking Jews to choose: God or work,” says fashion blogger Aly Walansky, 33. “I’m not super religious, but there are certain holidays I don’t mess with, and this is one of them.”
And sometimes you don’t even have to be a member of the tribe to feel legendary Jewish agita.
“I’ll be at the Kabbalah Centre all day [today] for the blowing of the shofar, then I’ll come back to the salon for blowouts,” says hair guru Ivan Torres of Midtown’s Angelo David Salon, who started studying the mystical Jewish teachings last year. Influential Man Repeller fashion blogger Leandra Medine, 24, an observant Jew, laments missing three full days this year, and about 30 shows—including Jason Wu, Alexander Wang and Creatures of the Wind.
“My MO is to keep my phone off. I can’t handle watching it on Instagram,” she says of resisting the temptation to follow the play-by-play of each show online.
But not everyone can afford to sit this Fashion Week out.
Ari and David Goldberg, the brothers who co-founded fashion media site Style Caster, say the show must go on. They will host their annual 50 Most Stylish New Yorkers party tonight, the first Thursday of Fashion Week, as they do every year.
The fact that their annual bash at Lavo falls on the second night of the holiday was a dilemma for the entrepreneurial brothers: “It’s like, Jesus, I can’t believe we’re doing an event on Rosh Hashana,” says David, 29. “But at least it’s the second night of the holiday.”
Adds Ari, 31,who, along with his brother, is a founding member at Soho Synagogue: “I like to think the man upstairs knows we work our asses off to donate to this synagogue, and could build one in the future,” he says. “That synagogue turns their lights on with our money. It’s about your own relationship with God. You do everything you can to honor your tradition, but we’re capitalists—and want to make money because we like to give back money.”
Why on Earth did the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which organizes Fashion Week, schedule the event during the holiday?
“The New York fashion calendar is part of an international schedule and is locked into the designated dates,” says CFDA spokeswoman Kelly McCauley.
“To accommodate the holiday, we have provided designers the option to move their show to different days.”
Danielle and Jodie Snyder, the sisters behind hot jewelry line Dannijo Jewels, are now presenting on Monday instead of their original Thursday slot to accommodate the observant.
Designer Yigal Azrouel’s 2 p.m. Friday slot was shifted to Sunday morning this year because of the conflict, his reps say.
But not everyone can pick and choose the timing of their show.
“A designer friend of mine told me she’s holding off on a big show this time around because of the date issues. She’s just doing a small press presentation after Rosh Hashana,” says Gruber.
Walansky, who hasn’t missed a Fashion Week in six years, even right after she had major surgery in February, questions the unfashionable overlap: “I can’t imagine this ever happening on Christmas.”