NYC Designers Take the Runway to the Streets This Summer

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Tommy Hilfiger, Diane von Furstenberg, Norma Kamali, Betsey Johnson, Calvin Klein, and a host of other major American designers are going to hold a runway show on Broadway all summer long. The project, called Sidewalk Catwalk and organized by the Fashion Center Business Improvement District, will feature mannequins wearing one-of-a-kind creations by the designers. From June 24th through Labor Day, they'll stand frozen in mid-strut up and down Broadway from Herald Square to Times Square.

It's an ambitious project, and it brings together a range of New York organizations. Macy's, a major sponsor, will put together window displays, merchandise, and in-store events celebrating the show. Students from Parsons and FIT will help out the designers, and each school will get its own mannequin as well. And when the summer ends, the BID will auction off each dummy complete with its outfit, which hopefully will have survived three months on the mean streets. They'll donate the proceeds to Materials for the Arts, a non-profit that supplies creative groups and public schools with recycled arts materials.
· Sidewalk Catwalk [Fashion Center]