Dec. 4, 2013 7:19 p.m. ET
Guests planning to attend New York Fashion Week in February to see designers' Fall 2014 collections will notice new, more modern show venues and fewer fashion bloggers. Some may find they can no longer get a ticket to a designer show they've attended in years past.
IMG Fashion, which runs what is officially known as Mercedes-Benz DAI.XE +0.67% Daimler AG Germany: Xetra €58.69 +0.39 +0.67% Dec. 6, 2013 2:26 pm Volume : 1.18M P/E Ratio 8.43 Market Cap €63.48 Billion Dividend Yield 3.75% Rev. per Employee €420,678 12/03/13 High-End Motorcycles Rev Up Sa... 12/03/13 In a Test, Mercedes-Benz to Se... 12/02/13 Chrysler to Challenge Ford's T... More quote details and news » Fashion Week (but which many people still call New York Fashion Week), plans to announce on Thursday a number of changes aimed at addressing a growing array of designers' complaints. The twice-yearly event held at Lincoln Center, they say, had become too cluttered with people whose connections to fashion were tenuous at best. It featured outdated venues and show formats. And costs to rent show spaces were in some cases too high.
"It was becoming a zoo," said Catherine Bennett, senior vice president and managing director at IMG Fashion Events and Properties, who oversaw the refresh. "What used to be a platform for established designers to debut their collections to select media and buyers has developed into a cluttered, often cost-prohibitive and exhausting period for our industry to effectively do business."
The changes include two redesigned venues on the Lincoln Center site, two new venues and alternate, off-site show venues, accessible by a shuttle service, that will get the same marketing benefits of those at Lincoln Center. Shows at the alternate spaces will be programmed to minimize the risk of scheduling conflicts at other venues.
Designers can also present their collections online and have the show streamed on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week's broadcast, a potential boost to emerging designers.
One of the redesigned spaces, called the Theater, will have updated lighting and sound, as well as increased backstage space for media interviews and VIP guests. The Salon venue, previously called the Stage, also got lighting and production upgrades and now seats 500 for a more intimate show, said Jarrad Clark, IMG Fashion's vice president and global creative director.
Among the new venues, the Pavilion, a new contemporary and flexible show space at Lincoln Center, aims for a modern, industrial feeling and the ability to accommodate multiple seating configurations. The Hub at Hudson, a new flexible space located at the Hudson Hotel, a few blocks from Lincoln Center, is geared toward up-and-coming designers.
There was also an effort to reduce the cost of renting venues, for shows that can run about 10 minutes. The Hub at Hudson will go for $15,000, compared with $18,000 at the former Box venue it replaces, for example. Renting the Salon will cost $45,000 compared with $47,500 for the old Stage venue. Small presentations during fashion week can be mounted for about $20,000, but bigger shows can cost well into the six figures—and more than $1 million for big brands.
Mr. Clark added that, in general, there will be more areas in the tents where business can be conducted, as well as more backstage space "to do some serious high-level VIP hospitality for designers or private green rooms for front-row guests."
The moves come as competing companies and venues have sprouted up to challenge IMG. Many of the changes being announced result from designer surveys IMG conducted anonymously, to encourage their feedback.
IMG also met with a few public-relations firms and production companies that represent designers. And it worked closely with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, where Ms. Bennett was director of business affairs before joining IMG.
Steven Kolb, chief executive of the CFDA, said he thinks the venue redesigns are "a great thing."The proof, though, is in the pudding, he said: "Whether or not [everything] will happen, will come in February. I think it will. I hope it does."
The redesigned venues aim to better control and reduce audience capacities, "making invitations once again an exclusive pass for true fashion insiders," according to IMG. Lincoln Center has often been swarmed with fashion bloggers, street-style photographers and fashion fans looking to be seen and photographed at the big scene, in addition to the hundreds of journalists and scores of celebrities.
Oscar de la Renta, for one, has openly lamented big shows, including his own, for attracting large crowds of people with little or no direct connection to the clothes. Last year, the designer began limiting the number of people on his fashion-show guest lists and moved from big shows to intimate presentations for his resort and pre-fall collections.
An IMG spokesman said the media guest list will be cut by 20%, primarily through tighter accreditation guidelines, to make sure the invited are "of value to the designers." Less essential guests can view most of the shows or images online.
Designer Rebecca Minkoff, who shows her collections at the Theater at the tents, said she looks forward to the updated and roomier space—especially in the greeting area, which she always avoided by entering the tents from the back.
"My fingers are crossed they are going to pull this off," she said. "Obviously with anything new, there are a few glitches. I'm expecting less than normal."
Write to Ray Smith at ray.smith@wsj.com
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