New York City’s Fashion Street Turns 50 – WWD

Fifty years ago, Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue was part of Fashion Street.

On September 23, 1972, the section of Seventh Street between 26th and 42nd Streets in the Garment District, brought everything fashion to life.

Although the subtitled Fashion Avenue moniker was originally intended to be temporary—it was part of a campaign to revitalize New York as an international fashion city—the name stuck and has been synonymous with American fashion ever since.

At that time, the rebranding campaign was launched by Fashion Capital of the World Inc., a group of 50 influential business leaders that was formed a year ago. joining later). Prominent industrialists as well as designers such as Jerry Silverman and Abe Schrader were part of the group. Oscar de la Renta lent his name to the group’s event, which received financial support from New York City and Mayor John Lindsay.

In addition to naming the street, promotional periods, led by Fashion Capital of the World Inc., included a series of events and fashion shows in September 1972 during the first week of the New York Fall Fashion Festival. The aim was to attract buyers from around the world to promote and strengthen the city’s position as the fashion capital of the world.

All the fanfare, including a live fashion show in front of Rockefeller Plaza, was captured in the pages of WWD, as well as nationally televised, boasting the success of Seventh Street designers and their industry partners—from clothing to accessories, the events and promotions of Fashion Street’s factory workers, buyers and contractors, just as it is today. They continue to make American fashion a vital economic force.

And further driving American fashion forward, a year after Seventh Street’s renaming, the famous Battle of Versailles — named after WWD publisher John B. Fairchild — pitted American designers against their French counterparts in a fashion show all in the name of raising funds for the ailing landmark, all from America and New York City. In particular, apart from the main center of the international fashion industry, it is not only a place to live, work and trade, but also a famous fashion capital in itself.