New York Fashion Week is a highly chaotic circus, says Oscar de la Renta

Fashion mogul Oscar de la Renta has slammed celebrities for turning New York Fashion Week into a “highly chaotic circus”.

Oscar de la Renta, 81, told WWD that he is sick and tired of the “huge crowds of people’ who pile into shows, ‘with no direct connection to the clothes”.

As a result, for his September 10 show at his midtown Manhattan showroom, he will only be allowing 350 invitees with a “legitimate professional purpose” to enter.

Explaining his motivation further, Oscar de la Renta said: “When you do megashows, it loses the reason of why we’re showing.

“It’s important for [certain industry professionals] to look at the clothes and see them. 

“They shouldn’t have to go through 30,000 people . . . who are trying to take pictures of all of those people who are totally unrelated to the clothes.

“I feel [inviting a more targeted audience] is the most manageable way and the most civilized way.”

In another interview with the Guardian, Oscar de la Renta explained that when shows are “highly chaotic and real circus, the people that do matter aren’t going to be put into the best of moods”.

He says for that those not invited to his presentation, all of the action will be available online, 20minutes later.
Echoing Oscar de la Renta’s sentiments, fashion journalist, Suzy Menkes wrote in the New York Times earlier this year that “today, the people outside fashion shows are more like peacocks than crows”.

“You can hardly get up the steps at Lincoln Center, in New York . . . because of all the photographers snapping at the poseurs.”

Meanwhile, retail consultant Robert Burke told the Guardian that once inside it’s often impossible to see what’s going on because people are “jumping to photograph” famous faces on the front row.

He points out that bloggers and celebrities are important, “but there needs to be balance”.

New York Fashion Week runs from September 5 to 12, with more than 80 designers set to show their spring/summer 2013 collections.