<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"It's always kind of like Groundhog Day when Fashion Week rolls around. We've all been here before, but in the weeks leading up, we're like deer caught in headlights\u2014anxiously waiting for the frenzy to start. But what is it? Fashion Week can seem like a mysterious, seemingly glamorous machine that churns out countless runway shows, copious amounts of street style photos, and lots of celebrities preening in the front rows. So, before this season's madness starts on February 12, we thought we'd break it down to the basics. Here we go.\n\nWhat is Fashion Week?\n\n In a super condensed nutshell, Fashion Week is when the industry's top designers present their upcoming collections in a series of runway shows and presentations.\n\nWhen did Fashion Week start? What is the history behind it?\n\n The first official Fashion Week began as \"Press Week\" in 1943 at the height of World War II. The American fashion media couldn't get over to Paris\u2014where the most fashion-y of shows went down\u2014to see the next season's collections. Silver lining: It was New York (and America's) chance to show the world what they could do. From then on, Press Week turned into Fashion Week and shows were staged in venues all over New York City. But in 1994 the runways found their first home at Bryant Park, conveniently located near the Garment District. Eventually the shows outgrew the iconic midtown grassy green, and \"the tents,\" as they're affectionately called (more on that below), moved over to Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center in 2010.\n\nOK, so what are the logistics? \n\n New York Fashion Week (NYFW) happens twice a year\u2014once in February and once in September. The designers always show collections for the season ahead, so starting February 12, 2015, we'll be seeing what will be on the racks for fall 2015/winter 2016, and come September 2015, we'll be watching the spring/summer 2016 looks strut down the runway. This year, NYFW shows run officially from February 12 to February 19 (you can check out the full schedule here), but different parties and festivities always start a day or two earlier. There are various other series of runway shows throughout the year (Haute Couture, Swim Week, etc.), but when people refer to Fashion Week, it's this biannual event they're talking about.\n\nWait, why does Fashion Week seem to last so much longer than a week? \n\n Well, for the official spring/summer and fall/winter seasons, Fashion Week runs consecutively in major style capitals around the world, starting with New York. This season, when NYFW ends, London picks right up from February 20 to February 24, then Milan from February 25 to March 3, culminating in Paris from March 5 to March 11. Hence what fashion peeps jokingly refer to as Fashion Month.\n\nWho decides which designers get to show at Fashion Week?\n\n Well, it depends. There isn't an official board or council or overlord that officially decides who gets to sit at the Fashion Week table. But it's still a bit more politically complicated. In the official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents, clout and seniority (like if you've been showing there for years and years) are important for designers to score one of the limited spots and call dibs on a time slot. For instance, emeritus designers basically show every season, and the industry knows and plans for it. The other issue is budget\u2014not every designer can afford an elaborate show at an expensive venue.\n\nDo different designers show in different cities? How is that decided?\n\n Yes, different designers show in different cities around the world. There's no hard and fast rule, but mostly it depends on where the designer's business and studio (or \"atelier\") are headquartered. For instance, native New Yorker Michael Kors shows in his home city, while Paris-based British ex-pat Stella McCartney and French-to-the-core Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week. It's a way to demonstrate support for their local economy, fellow designers, and retailers. Plus, chances are designers are members of their national fashion council (like our CFDA), so it just makes sense to stay local.\n\nfacebook dialogPinterest\n\nWhat are \"the tents?\" Do all of the shows take place there? \n\n Yes, \"the tents.\" So just to back up, IMG is the official organizing body that runs the shows and presentations at Lincoln Center, and Mercedes-Benz has been the official sponsor since 2009. Hence the official term is \"Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.\" These shows take place in actual tents\u2014necessary since the raw space is an outdoor park\u2014albeit super lu and expansive structures complete with heating or air-conditioning. Designers like Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, and Rebecca Minkoff traditionally show at official Mercedes-Benz Fashion week or \"the tents.\"\n\nBut plenty of other designers\u2014from established ones like Diane von Furstenberg (who moved her show out of the tents last season) to cutting-edge ones like Opening Ceremony and Rodarte\u2014prefer to go \"off-site.\" Some just for an inspired change of pace and more creative control over their setup, some to make a statement (like when Alexander Wang showed in Brooklyn last season), and others for budget reasons. Venue alternatives include art galleries, photo studios, event spaces, and iconic buildings (New York Public Library, anyone?).\n\nThe fashion crowd shouldn't get too comfortable though\u2014it's looking likely that the shows will eventually move to the Hudson Navy Yards on the very far west side of Manhattan when the development is completed in 2017. So let's hope flats cycle back into style by then.\n\nHow long does a show actually last?\n\n The actual runway show can run from 10 to 20 minutes\u2014depending on how elaborate a designer wants to get with his or her staging. But, the kicker: Shows rarely, if ever start on time. It's just something everybody in the biz knows. (One exception: Marc Jacobs, who in recent years has made a statement by starting right on time\u2014or \"just\" 20 minutes late). But in most cases, we'd say, on average, there are about 20 to 40 minutes of sitting around, texting, tweeting, and schmoozing time before they peel the plastic off the runway, turn down the lights, and start the music. And then in the blink of an eye, it's over.\n\nWhat is a show like? \n\n Well, to start, during the aforementioned fashionably late start downtime, this is when the paparazzi goes nuts snapping pics of the biggest stars sitting in the front row\u2014ranging from big-time editors to celebrities (Emma Watson Blake Lively ) to socialites to style bloggers. Maybe a famous DJ like Samantha Ronson will be spinning a pre-show set.\n\nAs for the actual runway part, an average of 30 to 40 looks or outfits will be shown by models walking down the runway. There might be a famous face on the catwalk, there might not\u2014it depends on the designer. The most famous model always closes the show though (look out for Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne sightings this season). The runway show could consist of the standard parade of looks, ended by all the models doing their strut, finished off with the designer walking out for a final wave. Or sometimes the producers get more inventive by, say, showing a short art film before the show or having a surprise musical guest performance, like last season when St. Vincent sang at the DVF show (and Diane ended up grooving alongside the models) or when Paloma Faith, backed by a live orchestra, crooned at last season's Burberry show at London Fashion Week.\n\nIs the runway collection different from what you see in stores?\n\n Yes. Think of a runway show as a designer's form of artistic expression. They want to make the biggest impact that they can, while imparting the theme of the collection for the next season. So that means they'll show exaggerated or more dramatic versions of what ends up in the stores. To wit, your standard LBD isn't going to beg for instant Instagrams and retweets quite like Jeremy Scott's insane junk food bag poncho for Moschino will. (Even though the classic LBD would sell way more units in-store than a snack-themed cape.) Or you might notice that an ethereal dress is completely see through on the runway, but ends up with a modest slip when it finally hits the stores next season. Those types of slight alterations.\n\nfacebook dialogPinterest\n\nIs a runway the only format for designers to show their collections during Fashion Week?\n\n Nope! You have the runway show production, in which models walk out to show the audience next season's creations, but there's also the presentation set-up in which models basically double as mannequins standing-slash-posing in some sort of themed vignette. This allows guests to get a close-up look at the collection, at any time, within the presentation. Some designers opt out of showing their collections altogether and invite editors to visit their showrooms for a peek at the next season's clothes instead.\n\nWho goes to shows and how do they get invited?\n\n Well, the latter part of that question is key. Because everyone who goes to a Fashion Week show\u2014be it in \"the tents\" or some glorious, blown-out abandoned building downtown\u2014must be invited. So we're talking fashion editors, retail store buyers, fashion bloggers, industry influencers, friends or clients of designers, and oh, famous people. Celebrities in the front row are there either to support their designer friend or, most likely, they're present to promote the brand (like Jennifer Lawrence at Dior).\n\nCan you watch the shows if you're not at Fashion Week? \n\n Yes! And without having to buy a new outfit, teeter around in crazy high heels (especially in the snow), and deal with glowering security guys guarding the fort, er, tents. Instead you can live-stream over 50 shows\u2014from Marc Jacobs to Charlotte Ronson\u2014during New York Fashion Week, plus various international designers in the weeks following. (Burberry and Topshop in London are always worth setting the alarm for\u2014you know, time change and all.) Stay tuned to catch shows right here on TeenVogue.com!\n\nWhy is Fashion Week important? Why do editors care so much about it? \n\n Well, despite the parties and street style spectacles, Fashion Week is for work\u2014traditionally meaning store buyers come to see the upcoming season's offerings and put in orders while fashion magazine editors use it to forecast trends and see what looks and pieces they want to feature in their publications. It helps to spark ideas for editorials and fashion features for the next six months!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-is-fashion-week>