Welcome to Recession-Era Fashion Week

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Fashion Week will sew a silver lining into this recession, though they may have to forgo importing that silver lining from Italy, and they'll have to pay the seamstress in trade. One way designers, and PR teams, are trying to look on the brighter side is by recasting presentations as a "more intimate" experience rather than "cheaper than a runway show."

Fern Mallis, the senior vice president of IMG Fashion, has got to hate this quote from designer Carmen Marc Valvo: 'Runway shows are no longer an efficient method to build attention and business considering the economic climate today. It will be easier for them to come for 10 minutes than to sit through a three-hour show. The whole runway concept now is almost passé.' Fewer runway shows might mean fewer celebs, but even here, there's a silver lining: more "authenticity." Fashion show producer Kelly Cutrone told the Daily News, "The Miss Sixty show last season I thought was the least authentic show I’d really seen. I don’t believe Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were sitting around saying, ‘What are you doing, honey? The shows are on. Let’s go to Miss Sixty.’" What this all means for Damrosh Park Fashion Week is still anyone's guess.
· Expect star presence to dim at Fashion Week [NYDN]
· Refashioning Fashion Week [WWD, sub req]