Glitz and glamour grace Manhattan

The time has come yet again for buyers, magazine
editors and fashion journalists from around the world to
descend upon Bryant Park, a 9.6-acre public park located
in the heart of New York City, for 2008’s Mercedes-Benz
Fashion Week.

From Feb. 1 to Feb. 8, designers – such as Duckie
Brown, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Monique
Lhuillier, Phillip Lim, Badgley Mischka and Band of
Outsiders – will exhibit their collections for Fall and
Winter 2008.

The 65,000-square-foot white tents, which host the
fashion shows, are among certain venues in which access
is highly exclusive.

Fashion shows can be huge spectacles, taking up to
six months to plan and costing designers as much as
$500,000. Each year, celebrities – such as Andre 3000
of hip-hop duo Outkast, Anne Hathaway, Paris Hilton,
Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie and
Kanye West – make appearances in the front rows of
their favorite designers.

“Fashion week is a global event that brings people from
all over the world together,” said Donna Reamy, associate
chair of the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising
at VCU. “Even if people don’t understand the same
language, they understand fashion statements.”

Reamy said she discusses the impact of Fashion
Week in her class FASH 250: Concepts of the Fashion
Merchandising Environment.

“I use it as a learning tool,” she said. “We talk about
it in class from an economic perspective: how much
the shows cost, how the promotion helps the designers
and brands, etc.”

Reamy said she is excited about the upcoming shows,
too.

“I always look forward to the new season of trends
– not just wearing the clothes, but to see what the
designers have created,” she said.

As Fashion Week commences, some VCU students also
will be keeping their eyes keenly fixed on the runways
of their favorite designers.

Sophomore Dekota Waller, 19, was disappointed that
he wasn’t able to attend the show in person, but he still
waits patiently in anticipation.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what Marc
Jacobs puts together.” Waller said. “His last show was
truly genius and amazing.”

Freshman Carri Van Campen, 18, said she is curious
to see the models in New York.

“Because of the recent attention brought to the size
of the models,” Van Campen said, “I wonder if there
will be a trend in healthy models.”