The History of Fashion Week

1660
Louis XIV promotes haute couture with the Fashion Dolls. These dolls were life-size mannequins wearing the current fashions.
The royal court and its seamstresses would analyze and take apart the garments to make their own version of the gowns.




1700s
Marie Antoinette appoints couturier Rose Bertin the Minister for Fashion. Bertin is famous for creating Marie Antoinette’s elaborate court dresses.

1804
Francoise-Marie Leroy is made the new Minister for Fashion when Napoleon crowns himself Emperor.

1858
Charles Worth is the first to sew labels on his clothes and to show customers the outfits on live models. This Englishman is considered the father of haute couture.

1868
Worth and his sons create an association of couture houses called The Chambre Syndicale De La Confection Et De La Couture Pour Dames Et Fillettes. The house’s purpose is to prevent couturiers’ designs from being copied.




1903
Ehrich Brothers specialty store holds the first American fashion show in New York City to attract middle-class female customers.

1910
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the mother of chic, opens her first shop in Paris. Chanel was first known for using jersey materials, which were originally used for men's underwear, to make skirts and dresses for women.








1910
Department stores like Wanamaker’s promote their own fashion shows.



1914
Edna Woodman Chase, a Vogue editor, hosts a charity called the Fashion Fete to benefit the war-relief effort. Some consider this one of the first “real” fashion shows.



1920s
Fashion shows go mainstream. Flapper girls strutted down the runway in both boutiques and department stores. Shows took place during tea time or at lunch and were considered more theatrical than today’s shows. Shows had ethnic and costume themes. A few even had narrative commentary.


1943
Eleanor Lambert creates “Press Week” in New York since America was in the middle of World War II. Fashion editors were not able to fly over the Atlantic to attend the Paris shows, so Lambert got the idea to boost the American economy and fashion market with her version of fashion week. As a result, Vogue and Elle started to wean off the French fashion obsession and feature more American designers.

1950
Fairchild publishes How to Give a Fashion Show. Around the country, PR women purchase the book to learn how to give the shows their bosses are increasingly asking for.

1960s
American designers start showing their collections in art galleries, Soho lofts, and chic hotels.

1961
London Fashion Week is created.



1990s
The “Big Six” Supermodels – Christy, Linda, Claudia, Naomi, Cindy and Kate – dominate the runway. These women brought attitude to the runway and used their personalities, along with their great looks, to book shows. Linda Evangelista’s infamous comment “I don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day” sums up their earning power.


1990
At the Michael Kors Autumn/Winter show, chunks of ceiling plaster fall on models and editors alike due to the booming bass. This is when Fern Mallis, the Council of Fashion Designers of America executive director, gets the idea to organize all the shows in one centralized location.




1994
CFDA puts on the first Olympus Fashion Week in Bryant Park.



1995
Sao Paulo Fashion Week is created. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen regularly struts the runway to help boost her home country’s status as a fashion show player.

2001
Olympus Fashion Week is bought by marketing company IMG, who changes the name to Olympus/Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

2005
Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo is created. The show is supported by the Ministry of Economy, the Fashion Trade and Industry. Designers, material and apparel manufacturers join together to sell Japanese fashion to the globe. However, some critics complain that the show is too westernized with its models and designs. Some locals wish the show would show true eastern beauty and fashion.

2006
In September the Spanish Association of Fashion Designers decide to ban models that have a BMI lower than 18 from walking the catwalk.