NEW YORK — For those who have barely recovered from the fall shows, it’s time to plan resort and spring 2011 — at least that seems to be the sentiment at the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
On Wednesday, executive director Steven Kolb sent out an e-mail encouraging designers to open resort from June 7 to June 17, and reminding them the spring 2011 shows are scheduled from Thursday, Sept. 9 to Thursday, Sept. 16, with Fashion’s Night Out slated for Friday, Sept. 10.
The CFDA has sent out similar memos before, aiming to bring organization and structure to show week. In Wednesday’s memo, the organization reiterated the importance of designers sticking to the day and time slot of the previous season for their shows. “It is not possible to move from your given slot unless you have permission from the CFDA,” the memo stated. “The Fashion Calendar continues to schedule all the shows and keeps the calendar — and does so in direct consultation with CFDA, IMG and Milk & MAC.”
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“If a designer needs to move, hopefully they will understand that it’s not simply a decision to move, but every move creates a ripple effect,” Kolb elaborated on Wednesday.
There is some leeway though, particularly where it concerns Rosh Hashanah. For the first time in recent memory, the New York shows will directly overlap with the Jewish holiday this year as a result of a recent shift to start the show cycle on the second Thursday of September. The two-day Jewish holiday begins at sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
“We are most sensitive to it,” Kolb noted. “We started on Thursday to accommodate London. We can’t go back any further and we can’t go earlier. There is nothing we can do, other than to let people know [Rosh Hashanah is] then, and to work around it by being utmost respectful to anybody that can’t show on that day. The way we see it is that if designers are not comfortable showing on those days, we can figure out a different [slot] for them.”
The memo also encouraged designers to consider presentations, which should be scheduled on the half hour, and off-site show venues on the West Side north of Houston Street to ease travel to and from Lincoln Center, where the shows will be held for the first time this September.
“It’s a positive thing that we sent the memo,” Kolb said. “We are letting people know that these are the challenges we face, and we’re on it to make sure we have a smooth, organized fashion week.”