The fashion marathon called New York Fashion Week has just begun, and Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford have already shown their first collections for the Fall 2019 season. Paris, London and Milan Fashion Weeks are next in line. Today we decided to remember how the history of fashion shows began, who and when first decided to bring designers together in the framework of a week-long fashion marathon - because not immediately such annual events became the central news occasion on which the trends of the next years are defined and contracts are signed.

The first fashion week was held in New York in 1943. Its ideologist was Eleanor Lambert, who is called the "godmother" of American fashion culture. This outstanding woman is also responsible for the creation of the first branding PR-agency and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) on the American continent. During the war in Paris, which was the first to be recognized as the fashion capital of the world, it became, of course, impossible to develop the industry of beauty and style. Eleanor suggested holding a fashion marathon in her city - and New York did not miss this chance.

Initially, the event was called Fashion Press Week and was primarily aimed at familiarizing fashion publications with upcoming trends and innovations. Until 2010, the shows were held in Bryant Park, under tents set up for the week. However, in 2010 the territory and infrastructure became insufficient for a full-fledged quality organization of the event, and New York Fashion Week was moved to Lincoln Center.

Despite the fact that Paris Fashion Week has always been the final in the order of the "Big Four" weeks, it was the first on the European continent - in 1945, immediately after the war, the French capital adopted the now traditional American practice of fashion shows. However, years passed before the Week was officially recognized: only in 1973 the first full-fledged Paris Fashion Week was organized with the support of the French Fashion Federation.

The fashion marathon called New York Fashion Week has just begun, and Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford have already shown their first collections for the Fall 2019 season. Paris, London and Milan Fashion Weeks are next in line. Today we decided to remember how the history of fashion shows began, who and when first decided to bring designers together in the framework of a week-long fashion marathon - because not immediately such annual events became the central news occasion on which the trends of the next years are defined and contracts are signed.

The first fashion week was held in New York in 1943. Its ideologist was Eleanor Lambert, who is called the "godmother" of American fashion culture. This outstanding woman is also responsible for the creation of the first branding PR-agency and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) on the American continent. During the war in Paris, which was the first to be recognized as the fashion capital of the world, it became, of course, impossible to develop the industry of beauty and style. Eleanor suggested holding a fashion marathon in her city - and New York did not miss this chance.

Initially, the event was called Fashion Press Week and was primarily aimed at familiarizing fashion publications with upcoming trends and innovations. Until 2010, the shows were held in Bryant Park, under tents set up for the week. However, in 2010 the territory and infrastructure became insufficient for a full-fledged quality organization of the event, and New York Fashion Week was moved to Lincoln Center.

Despite the fact that Paris Fashion Week has always been the final in the order of the "Big Four" weeks, it was the first on the European continent - in 1945, immediately after the war, the French capital adopted the now traditional American practice of fashion shows. However, years passed before the Week was officially recognized: it was only in 1973 that the first full-fledged Paris Fashion Week was organized with the support of the French Fashion Federation.

For Milan Fashion Week had a significant meaning: previously the center of Italian style was Florence, and Milan received the right to be called a fashion city only in 1979, when it was able to offer a new concept of holding shows pret-a-porter with the support of the National Chamber of Fashion of Italy. The last of the major modern Weeks was London Weeks: in 1984 the British Fashion Council organized a major event at Somerset House for the first time.

Although for 70 years couture shows for press, buyers and clients have remained the centerpiece days of any season, recent trends suggest that many brands are beginning to lean toward the idea of interactive shows and no longer favor the tradition of showing collections six months before the season, believing they are losing potential buyers because of it. In December 2015, New York Fashion Week's governing body, the Council of American Fashion Designers - traditionally the best at anticipating change - even launched a full-scale financial review, charging the agency with developing alternatives for Fashion Week that would better meet the industry's current demands. Change is coming, but what exactly fashion shows will be transformed into in the future, we can only guess.