The Impact of World War II on the Beginnings of New York Fashion Week
During the ’40s, fashion began to evolve slowly, but Eleanor’s event took it to the next level.
What inspired the creation of New York Fashion Week? A fashion designer’s frustration with her work going unnoticed.
“Adele Simpson came to [Eleanor] and said, ‘American fashion is really strange because the garment manufacturers don’t promote the designers,'” John recalled. “‘They don’t even know their names, and we need to be promoted, too. The French designers get a lot of attention, but we don’t.’ It gave [Eleanor] an idea.”
Eleanor took action by inviting publishers from newspapers across America to write about U.S. designers and their new collections. It wasn’t easy, as publishers pushed back and said, “We don’t even have fashion writers.”
Eleanor’s solution was to have editors send their female writers, who had previously covered household topics such as cooking and cleaning.
Eleanor then used her influence to spotlight American designers like Lilly Daché, Hattie Carnegie, Norman Norell, and Nettie Rosenstein, among others.
With writers on board and designers ready to debut their collections, Fashion Press Week began.