Fern Mallis

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is getting a new look and some additional features this September. Yesterday, IMG Fashion (minus Fern Mallis who resigned Wednesday after nine years as global ambassador to start her own consulting firm) announced plans for the new and improved New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.

Say goodbye to Bryant Park's Tent, Salon, and Promenade; the spring 2011 collections will be shown in one of five new venues: The Theatre (with all black interior, it can seat 969 people), The Stage (slightly smaller, decorated in white and gray), The Studio (the smallest runway space), The Box (a presentation room), and The Courtyard (a glass-encased outdoor space for events and presentations).

Lincoln Center, with the help of director of fashion Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, promises to offer designers more options for runway configuration, lighting, and stage sets this season and is partnering with Fashion GPS to manage guest lists and RSVPs. A brand new website with designer and press contact information is also part of the plan.

Above: A rendering of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center

Effective tomorrow, Fern Mallis will be stepping down as global ambassador for IMG. She's also renouncing her role as the official face of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Why the change? Fern is leaving to start her own firm titled Fern Mallis LLC. Don't expect to see Fern too far from the tents come Fall, IMG Fashion is Fern's first client. Mallis told WWD, "It's something I have been thinking about for a while. It seems like there is a lot [of] opportunity. When we were planning the move to Lincoln Center, it felt like closure, like the end of the cycle. It's time for a new adventure."

Designers Anna Sui and Nanette Lepore saw a special screening of the HBO documentary, Schmatta: Rags to Riches, last night. Come Monday, Oct. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT, you can too. It sheds light on NYC's longstanding Garment District, which is in serious danger of shutting down. Those directly affected by economic and social woes tell their side of the story. Intrigued? Check the schedule and tune in.

London Fashion Week is in full swing and the models are tumbling in too-high platforms all over again.

Matthew Williamson's highly anticipated, very first New York flagship opened up this weekend. 

Kelly Cutrone of People's Revolution was dismissed from representing Yigal Azrouel thanks to some front-row mismanagement. 

Fern Mallis, IMG Senior Vice President, wrapped up Fashion Week with her thoughts on the economy, Anna Sui, and the move to Lincoln Center. 

>> This morning, Fern Mallis, senior vice president of IMG and coordinator of all things Fashion Week, held a state-of-the-Fashion-Week address for journalists and publicists.  Top of the bill?  Getting First Lady Michelle Obama to Fashion Week — "we're prepared to do what it takes."

The real impetus for the meeting, however, was to mollify any concerns and to address the fact that "the only people getting press are those not showing."  The number of events has dropped from 225 in February 2008 to 197 for the upcoming season, but Mallis emphasized that there are only four fewer designers slated to show in the tents than in September.  Events are still being double- or triple-booked, so for attendees, the load doesn't look like it's going to be any lighter.
*image: source