It’s the end of an era at the Bryant Park tents. For 17 years, it’s been the official home of New York Fashion Week, and next season, the whole shebang is moving uptown to Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. As the last Bryant Park Fashion Week kicks off today, The Post looks back on the Top 10 most unforgettable moments at the storied tents — from Sean John’s first show to the man who proposed marriage on the runway.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FOUND DEAD AT 40
1. 1994 — The movie “Unzipped” (which came out a year later) chronicles Isaac Mizrahi’s fall collection at the tents. “That was one of the best documentaries ever made,” says Fern Mallis, widely credited as creator of Fashion Week and senior vice president of IMG Fashion, which produces fashion weeks worldwide. “I just remember the extraordinary showmanship.”
2. 1995 — Gianni Versace opens Fashion Week. “I remember we got a lot of flak from the American designers,” says Mallis about the controversial decision to let an Italian designer kick off NYC’s most important fashion event. “We responded, ‘We are a global city.’ ” Not to mention a city with a small klepto problem — the Versace-designed seat cushions with the signature Medusa head were snapped up by every fashionista in sight.
3. 1999 — Bill Blass retires amid Hurricane Floyd. “Everyone was mortified the tents were going to blow away,” Mallis says. “It took forever to get up, and everyone was drenched. At the end, it was the longest standing ovation for a designer show. It was one of the most beautiful emotional shows ever, and it was really special. He got his appropriate send-off.”
4. 2000 — Sean John debuts. “Diddy’s first show was massive,” Mallis says. “There were airport runway lights, and people’s jaws just dropped. All these hunky fabulous guys came out wearing light pastel and more diamonds on than you could shake a stick at — and not one guy looked gay.”
5. 2001 — Tents mobilized for rescue after Sept. 11. Mallis remembers: “I stood up on a ladder with tears rolling down my face, and I said, ‘Collect your belongings, we’re under attack.’ We put up a sign that said our prayers were with the firefighters, and we turned the tents into temporary retrieval centers [for missing persons].” Fashion Week was canceled that year.
6. 2002 — The first post-9/11 shows prove triumphant. Mallis says: “The next February, Mayor Bloomberg and all the designers, over 100, stood there on the steps with an abstract Stephen Sprouse American flag in the background. It was just to say, ‘We’re the fashion industry. We’re alive. We’re back in business.’ ”
7. 2004 — A proposal ends a runway show. After Alice Roi presented her spring collection, she received the gift of a lifetime when her beau, Marc Beckman, proposed marriage at the end of the show by asking models to hold up signs. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Mallis says. “She said, ‘Yes, yes, oh my God, yes.’ ”
8. 2006 — Vera Wang pays tribute to her father. Says Fashion Wire Daily’s Renata Espinosa, “Her father died the morning she was showing, and he had always been such a huge supporter of hers.” Every seat said, “In Loving Memory of C.C. Wang.”
9. 2007 — AmEx starts selling packages to Fashion Week. “Suddenly, what had been an industry-only event was now open to their preferred members,” Espinosa says. “That was a change to: This is entertainment that you buy tickets for.”
10. 2008 — Liza Minnelli steals the show. At the Heart Truth Red Dress show, the icon surprised the audience by singing “New York, New York,” wearing a Halston original gown. “Everyone was clapping their hands and watching her parade,” Mallis remembers. “Everybody that matters was there.”
mstadtmiller@nypost.com