For many industry insiders, New York Fashion Week has been pretty overwhelming over the past few years. Many well-known American luxury brands have left the concrete streets – for their European counterparts, or nowhere – and as a result, the city’s fashion scene has lost some of its luster, except for emerging designers who are bringing back the excitement on schedule.
So when the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) dropped the official calendar for the spring 2023 season, it was almost a surprise to see a host of industry household names — brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Area and Puma returning after a hiatus — as well as international labels such as Fendi, Marni and Cos in the lineup. With Mayor Eric Adams signing off the jam-packed week and Vogue hosting its own outdoor runway, September’s shows might just be the biggest fashion event New York has seen in years. But amid her celebrity-packed front-row seats and exclusive parties, there’s the fear of falling ill during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, as well as growing fears about another contagious virus.
During the height of the Covid-related lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, fashion week was largely replaced by digital presentations, collection films and lookbook-only debuts (and, for some, nothing at all). The tracks turned once vaccines became widely available in the United States. But as brands and fashionistas continue to adjust to the “new normal,” the country is facing a different kind of national public health emergency as the monkeypox outbreak grows across the globe.
Signs were posted at Spring Studios detailing various Covid-19 safety precautions in September 2020, during the first New York Fashion Week following worldwide pandemic lockdowns.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
“Monkeypox is a public health concern because the disease is similar to smallpox—though not as deadly—and can be spread by infected people, animals and materials contaminated with the virus,” Dr. Manuel Flores, executive vice president of academic affairs and professor at the University of Health Sciences in Antigua, tells Fashionista.
Currently, there are 13,517 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the US, with nearly 3,000 of them in New York state alone. According to the CDC, the disease is most commonly spread through direct skin-to-skin contact, contaminated surfaces and respiratory droplets. At first, its symptoms are similar to the flu: fever, fatigue, body aches. After one to three days, you may have skin sores. (Dr. Flores notes that individuals remain infectious until the lesions have completely healed and the scabs have fallen off, but this process can take several weeks.) There are effective treatments and vaccines for those exposed to the monkeypox virus, but access remains limited to certain criteria.
Matthew Cancel, founder and CEO of Cancel Communications, contracted monkeypox in June. “The recovery period was about two-and-a-half weeks for the wounds to heal and about three-and-a-half weeks to get my full energy back — the longest symptom was fatigue, which lasted almost a month,” he says. “Fortunately, July was a slow month professionally, but I definitely wasn’t able to perform at my best. This was worrying and stressful, as a big part of my job is constantly moving and juggling multiple projects at once. “
When it comes to health and safety guidelines for New York Fashion Week, the focus has largely remained on Covid-19. (The latest update on the CFDA and IMG resource page mentions the Omicron variant from February.) Over the past few seasons, event governing bodies have encouraged a full course of Covid-19 vaccinations in accordance with state and federal law for participants, as well as the wearing of masks indoors and the reduced capacity of guests in performance venues with suitable spaces.
“NYFW: The Shows is committed to providing a safe environment for the fashion community this September, as we have done since the onset of Covid,” said a statement provided to Fashionista by IMG’s Fashion Events and Properties division. “IMG will continue to follow health and safety guidelines as recommended by state and local officials.” The CFDA confirmed that it was “up close [monitoring] like Covid-19 and Monkeypox cases and suggest following CDC and city guidelines,” adding, “CFDA is the organizer of the official NYFW calendar, but does not produce shows.”
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On August 24 – just over two weeks before New York Fashion Week officially kicked off – the CFDA released an updated health memo addressing both Covid-19 and monkeypox. “We encourage all fashion week stakeholders to get tested regularly, monitor symptoms and stay home if they show symptoms of Covid-19 and/or monkeypox,” the website said. “Individuals entering a performance venue must be prepared to provide full course Covid-19 vaccinations if required by the performance.”
Some fashion teams are worried about both viruses as they plan for the week-long event. “I’m waking up every day looking at my phone for health alerts—I don’t think I’ve ever been so involved in the news,” says Ahniyah Gold, founder and CEO of A Gold Consulting. “It’s been a lot of added work because we’re going as planned with our launches and events as we’ve already spent money. Since we work mostly with emerging designers, there’s a lot to lose in this situation, so we’re making sure that we are doing what we can to support them and move accordingly.”
A New York Fashion Week spectator wearing a face mask during the Spring 2022 shows in September 2021.
Photo: Imaxtree
New York Fashion Week also kicks off a month of travel for many in the industry, from writers and editors to influencers and publicists. Haley Sengsavanh, a 20-year-old student and freelance writer based in Toronto, went to New York Fashion Week for the first time in February and recalls the trip feeling overwhelming because of the Covid procedures, which are different compared to Canada. Malvika Sheth, a 23-year-old fashion and beauty content creator, recalls feeling safer at New York Fashion Week during Omicron’s rise than at more recent multi-city fashion weeks because of her vaccination card and temperature controls. “Knowing there was a checkpoint for entry eased my nerves a lot and I would feel comfortable wearing a mask when I felt the need because the crowd was quite divided – some had masks and some didn’t,” she said. say.
Until now, access to the monkeypox vaccine is still limited. Unlike Covid-19, however, the likelihood of someone contracting monkeypox at larger events like a fashion show or just out and about is very low, especially if you’re outdoors. Because monkeypox is spread through skin-to-skin contact—for example, by touching an infected person—one precaution people can take includes covering their arms and legs at a crowded event and not sharing items such as water bottles, cigarettes or straws.
“It is important to note that an emergency declaration does not always mean that there is an out-of-control number of cases. It can mean several things, such as an increase in the number of cases, and is often used to allow the government to access funding and other resources to reduce the ongoing public health threat,” says Dr. Brian Mangum, Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiologist at the University of Health Sciences in Antigua.
Fashion week is known for a busy schedule and amidst all these health concerns, Sheth believes that it is important to prioritize your health over doing them at every event. “Before it was about ‘go, go, go, rest when fashion month is over,’ and this time, it’s a lot more about making sure you’re healthy all the time,” she says. “The priorities have definitely changed. I’m trying to make sure I can keep my immunity high while traveling. What that means is: not running to more than five, six shows a day; making sure that get a good night’s sleep every night; not by skipping meals or having an irregular meal pattern. I want to make sure my body is nourished so that my first line of defense—my immune system—works the way it should. its optimal.”
With more resources, knowledge and experience about infectious diseases, people need to take the necessary precautions as monkeypox spreads.
“Start cursing,” Gold says. “We have a lot more, we have a lot of authority as publicists and for our clients who depend on us to clearly communicate whatever is going on and making sure that we are pointing them in the right direction. I will make sure that the people around us are safe.”
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