My Take on New York Fashion Week After 10+ Years of Attending
These NYFW reflections have been ten years in the making. It’s officially been 10 years since I attended my very first runway show during New York Fashion Week, right before I became a magazine editor.
I remember being so excited for that first runway show—was my outfit okay? How would I find my seat? Would people be able to sense that it was my very first time?
Since then I’ve attended almost every season of fashion week in New York (minus the pandemic years and the September I got married) and have been to 100+ presentations, runway shows and appointments.
I’ve accepted last minute, “you free in an hour?” invitations, attended runway shows in music venues and ballrooms, and made dozens of new connections in the industry.
As I prepare for this upcoming SS27 season, I was thinking about how much NYFW has evolved since my first year especially with the impact of influencers and social media.
From my days as a magazine editor to attending as a freelance writer and content creator, these NYFW reflections are my take on where NYFW stands in 2026.
NYFW Reflections: My Take After 10+ Years at Fashion Week
What is New York fashion week?
New York Fashion Week happens twice a year in February and September where designers show their ready-to-wear collections.
There are other fashion weeks that take place in London, Milan and Paris for ready-to-wear, usually immediately following NYFW.
In addition to ready-to-wear presentations, there are also other fashion week events throughout the year like couture shows or swim week.
But when you hear people refer to fashion week, they are likely talking about the February and September presentations.
What is the origin of NYFW?
New York fashion week started as a press week to present New York as a fashion capital on par with cities like Paris and Milan.
The original attendees of fashion week were primarily magazine editors who featured in the pages of their glossy publications and buyers from department stores who planned to carry the clothes in their stores.
Fashion week gave both groups a chance to preview the collections well in advance of when they’d actually be sold so buyers could stock their stores and editors could plan for future issues.
My NYFW Reflections: How Fashion Week Has Changed in 10 Years
In the nineties and early aughts, New Yorkers would know it was fashion week again when the tents went up at Bryant Park.
Today, fashion week is much more spread out throughout the city—meaning a show could take place in Brooklyn with the next presentation on the Upper West Side.
In addition to the decentralized schedule, the attendees have changed. Buyers and editors still attend, but it’s hard to ignore the presence of influencers and content creators.
While I still care deeply about the actual clothing and presentations, a lot of people follow fashion week (and those attending it) to see what people wear to shows, what the atmosphere is like in New York and the other events and parties that take place during fashion week.
Even as I look at my own schedule for this season, there’s a mix of actual presentations but also launches, parties and other events that are not actual runway shows.
That is proof in and of itself that fashion week is about more than just the shows in 2026.
People used to learn about new collections through magazines or by visiting their favorite department store, but now they can open Instagram and see all the details without spending money or leaving home.
Social media has opened up a whole new audience for fashion week that was never previously there, but that also means fashion week has lost a bit of the exclusivity that it was once known for.
Viewers at home are even seeing content for some brands and designers outside of runway shows when influencers attend brand dinners, cafe pop-ups (Chanel is hosting one this year) and other activations throughout the week.
There would be no fashion week without the actual presentations, but fashion week is now an entire ecosystem that extends far beyond the runway. That shift is really at the center of my NYFW reflections this year.
Is NYFW Still Worth It? My Honest NYFW Reflections
I will always love fashion week and still get goosebumps when I see an outfit on the runway that is just perfect IN PERSON.
Thinking about all of the changes to fashion week over the years also makes me reflect on how important fashion week really is for both designers and attendees.
If you’re an editor, buyer, VIP client or friend of the brand you’ll still likely make time to prioritize attending fashion week.
If you’re a content creator, blogger or influencer, I think that it can be beneficial to attend fashion week if it’s something your audience is interested in.
I also wanted to mention that I attend each season because I am local to NYC—I know a lot of creator friends who debate whether or not it’s worth it to travel from out of state to attend.
For those who live out of state, I’d definitely consider the cost (hotels, flights and Ubers may be more expensive particularly during September, which is a popular month to visit New York) and what you can really get out of it.
I think that if I lived out of state as a content creator, I would pop in for fashion week maybe every other year if I found value in the networking and if my audience truly enjoyed the content.
Even attending locally means making some trade-offs—being out of routine and finding yourself in the position of playing catch up on all of your other non-fashion week work is one of them for me.
These NYFW reflections wouldn’t be honest if I skipped the money conversation. And if you’re a designer thinking about showing at fashion week, I think it’s also important to consider the cost of showing and how strong of a return you can expect on that investment.
Rebecca Minkoff spoke about this on the Fashion and Founders podcast earlier this year and even a well-known designer like her who has put on very cool presentations over the years chooses not to show some years because the cost simply isn’t worth it.
Things can add up quickly between securing a venue, booking models, the glam teams, and everything else you’d need to make a show great.
I do think it’s worth mentioning that many designers choose not to show or host alternate formats (like a virtual presentation or even an intimate dinner) rather than a traditional runway show.
Ultimately it’s up to the designer whether they want to front the money for a show or potentially find a sponsor to help cover the costs.
FOMO vs real value at fashion week
Since fashion week is now more accessible than ever thanks to social media, I also think that the FOMO is more apparent too.
I’m no stranger to this feeling—every season there are shows I pitch to attend that I don’t hear back from, only to see that the front row is filled with my peers.
Even with similar credentials, there is often one small thing that gave them the edge over me to get invited.
Maybe they were able to spotlight the designer in a recent shopping roundup or maybe the PR rep is their cousin’s best friend.
When I first started attending, there was less competition on the influencer/creator front but now almost every show invites creators to attend and that means that some people will get in and others won’t. That’s the part of my NYFW reflections that’s hardest to admit.
Even though fashion week has become more accessible, it is still exclusive in the sense that you really have to have relationships with PR firms or be a prominent voice in the industry to be invited.
While fashion week can appear very glamorous, there’s a lot of strong personalities, standing around waiting for things to happen and stress trying to get everywhere on time that goes on as well—so how worth it is it to attend?
There have definitely been times where I’d stay up late to attend a party that turned out to be a bust or convinced myself that I HAD to attend a particular show and would end up standing in the back, unable to see or appreciate any of the looks.
I try to keep it real in my fashion week vlogs and show the disappointments, the waiting and the outfits that didn’t turn out as planned, but it’s a good reminder that what you see on social media is just one piece of the fashion week experience.
Final NYFW Reflections: What 10+ Years at Fashion Week Taught Me
As you can see, New York fashion week has evolved quite a bit in the last few years and it will continue to do so.
It hasn’t become irrelevant (as people like to claim every year) and if anything it has become bigger, messier and more commercial.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe a little of both.
As the attendees shift towards more creators and influencers, the audience for fashion week content broadens as well.
The spectacle of fashion week is still something that I like to tune into to see how different brands choose to activate, what creators and editors are wearing to the shows, and what we can expect from fashion in the upcoming season.
I’ll be vlogging this fashion week and sharing real-time updates on Instagram so be sure to follow along with me for all things NYFW this season.
Thanks for reading these NYFW reflections. I’ll be vlogging fashion week live on Instagram this season, so follow along there too.
yours,
Austen
