I felt like an idiot last week, because it took me forever to realize that Kanye West and Kim Kardashian had flown into town because Kanye was doing something for New York Fashion Week. In my defense, Kanye has done no advanced promotion for his stand-alone show, which is now scheduled for Wednesday (tomorrow) at noon. This is another Yeezy + Adidas show, the second ever NYFW show for Yeezy’s Adidas collaboration. I’m sure it will be one of the most talked-about shows of NYFW, just as his last show was. “Most talked-about” doesn’t really equal “good” though, but Kanye lives on hype. Anyway, Kanye threw this show together so last minute that other designers who were also going to so shows at noon on Wednesday had NO notice. And now everybody is scrambling.
Kanye West’s show, a last-minute addition to New York Fashion Week on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at noon, is causing headaches for at least one fashion designer. Anne Bowen, who planned to launch her new streetwear collection, Nomad VII by Anne Bowen, at the exact same time, is up in arms and scrambling to reschedule. Another headache: Naeem Khan is also scheduled to show in Kanye’s new time slot.
Bowen told WWD: “We have been prepping for a year for this at considerable financial, labor- and commitment-cost to our company. Our show date has been scheduled for months and has been on the Fashion Calendar for weeks. We went through all the proper channels to make this a reality. And just yesterday we learned that Kanye West is having a show at the same time on the same date as ours. Kanye knows he is a media sensation and it is just not ethical to do this. It’s like we are David and he is Goliath. We have put our heart and soul into our show, and should not be stepped on like this,” continued Bowen.
Consequently, Bowen said she has to move her show date to Thursday, Sept. 17 at 12:30 at the same location she was previously planning — Tao at 92 Ninth Avenue.
“In order for our show to have any significance, we now have to move our date and time which is a logistical nightmare, three days out from our originally scheduled time,” said Bowen.
According to her publicist, “We’re scrambling like crazy and it’s costing us a lot of money.” She said there are cancellation fees and they’re trying to secure the same models and photographers, “and now we have to re-invite the press…We sent out printed invites by hand, and they’re useless. We’re trying to contact everyone by e-mail,” said the publicist.
As for Naeem Khan, his show is scheduled for The Arc at Skylight at Moynihan Station. Khan couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday. A spokeswoman told WWD, “I can tell you that as of now, the show is going on as planned.”
The Bowen publicist contended that Khan’s show wasn’t as much a conflict for Bowen’s show since Khan is presenting eveningwear and Bowen is showing a streetwear collection that is more competitive with West. West is showing his Kanye West X Adidas Originals Collection (Yeezy Season 2), which is the second time he’s presenting it on the runway. He plans to show at Skylight Modern at 537 West 27th Street, with a performance once again by Vanessa Beecroft. Last February, he showed Yeezy Season 1, a men’s and women’s show, during Fashion Week, as well, with high-wattage attendees such as Beyoncé, Khloé Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, his wife Kim Kardashian, baby North West, and Sean “Diddy Combs.”
Bowen has listed a complaint with the CFDA Fashion Calendar. Steven Kolb, president of the CFDA, said that West hadn’t listed his show on the Fashion Calendar. “The first I heard about the Kanye show was what I read in the Post,” said Kolb, who then reached out to the Adidas public relations people. “There was no listing on the Fashion Calendar, and we didn’t know about it. We can’t avoid conflicts unless we know someone’s doing it.”
That really sucks. Do you think Kanye only recently decided to do a big spectacle show at NYFW, or was this being prepared for months and he simply neglected to inform the CFDA? Kanye is still beloved by Anna Wintour, and Wintour is incredibly involved with the management of the CFDA, so this puts her at odds between Kanye (who is basically stage-rushing other designers at this point) and the legit fashion designer community. Hm.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Please forgive my lack of eloquence here.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUCHE!!!!
He and Kim are the giant douche and turd sandwich of celebrities.
Yup total douche and turd
Not only did he do this, Kanye and Kim held up the Givenchy show. It started over an hour late and only a minute after they arrived. Tisci held the damn thing up until his bestie rapper bothered to show up.
They both think they’re the most important people in the world and everyone seems to support them in this belief by catering to their whims. I really can’t wait until the world uses them up and leaves them behind for the next trend.
Fashion shows always start late, and big celebrity guests never take their seat on time because they are invited by the designer, so they are backstage. The designer tells them when to go take their seat right before the show. This is EXTREMELY common, not like, them just being dicks.
(I worked at NYFW and LFW for three years as a PR assistant so I know. Every single show is always always late, that is normal.)
@farrahh- I believe there are pictures of Kim and Kanye actually showing up late. Like getting out of their car late and heading in and taking a seat. So if that’s the case they weren’t just backstage hanging with the designer. that’s where the story came from.
I just searched for photos or a story and nothing came up, except photos of them with the designer before the show, and a story about how Rihanna was late, and shut out of the show.
They showed up late. My flatmate is a model and was walking that particular show.
Farrah – I was reading about it this weekend. It was either NY Times or NY Mag or one of the NY magazines (online) that mentioned that they arrived to the location of the show just two or three minutes before the show started.
I know that these shows always start late, having attended quite a few. But the impression the article gave was while a few celebrities did show up later than the scheduled start time, the designer was waiting for them, and them alone, before starting. Julia Roberts, arguably the biggest star there, was even there much earlier than them.
Asshole is an asshole. Color me shocked.
Well said, Shambles. He is such a douche.
I think that pretty much sums it up.
but dont you know he I S fashion. he ivented that camo in the pic, he invented long sleeves, he invented leather pants. bow down to his dooshiness.
At least they’re not ripped?
The fact that the head didn’t know about it either is just ridiculous. Who signed off on him showing the collection then? And I feel bad for the other designers that are losing money on this. Good thing is this is free publicity cause I checked out the clothes and they are gorgeous.
But yea the CFDA should eat the cost for the other two designers or use some pull to help them reschedule everyone
I HOPE EVERY FASHION EDITOR ATTENDS ANNE BOWEN and NAEEM KHAN’s FASHION SHOWS. Kanye feels like having a show, Adidas agrees, and he is allowed to roll right over legitimate designers. Not right!
At least the bigger books will now have an editor at both – if nothing other than to hedge their bets on buzz. But I feel so terrible for those poor designers, and cross my fingers that any part of this mess may be salvaged for their sakes.
His designs suck he shouldn’t even be there I bet the ones who have actually gone to school and spent years getting a good reputation are thrilled that he just waltzes in last minute with such mediocre and generally unwearable designs. Has he actually made adidas any money I don’t see anyone wearing his crap except Kim and poor North. Anna Wintour is such a joke helping such an untalented idiot like Kanye.
Agreed…..zero talent for anything! Music. Fashion, breathing….etc..
I am sure he has had this on the cards for months, but as he is so egocentric he probably assumed everyone will just move as he is Yeezus (or whatever he calls himself) and above telling mere-mortals what his plans are.
He is exhausting….
Why are we blaming him? Someone at CFDA had to either keep his show date secret or allow Adidas and Kayne to schedule a show this way.
Stop hating on Kanye.
I know the Weeknd is now a model for his brand and it sold out so quickly last time his fans couldn’t get it.
He doesn’t do himself any favours, his aura and personality is of a self-important douche. IF you ever watch any interview or awards show the cockiness pours out of him.
@denisemich a popular celebrity could literally smear poop on a shirt and call it fashion and guess what- there would still be a good portion of the public who would still buy it just because the celebrity said so. Kanyes designs are that poop shirt, I wouldn’t qualify something that sells as good fashion.
And I would still blame Kanye because people bend over backwards for Celebrities. He could have very well decided last minute to do something and expected everyone to jump. That’s definitely not unheard of in that world.
@Tifygodess24, I never said it was good. I just said it was selling. Anyway Art is subjective.
aren’t there rules? Or anyone can just schedule a show at the last minute? I believe he has been planning this event for months. He just decided to announce it at the last minute. Because He Can! It takes a lot of work and extreme planning to pull an event off. I blame CFDA. I am sure if this was done at the last minute, they sanctioned it. Otherwise many other designers would do the same thing and that would cause confusion for everyone.
@dtab, I don’t trust guys who are clean. That biz is crazy and dirty. Only egomaniacs can survive. Kayne, doesn’t pretend. Do I actually purchase his stuff? No. But I prefer the truth to a lie. And so many are lies or the image machine.
Stop hating on Kanye? I’ll need detailed instructions please because the way to go about this eludes me.
Also, I want to see the receipts for the sold out collection. And if it did, what was the scale of production? Dozens of pieces? Hundreds? Thousands?
he will be the first to scream and cry if somebody do that to him
Exactly!
I can’t stand fashion week!!!! I was at grand central terminal on Sunday and they were setting up there. At a train station. To have models show clothes no one can wear or afford. Making it impossible to catch your train because an entrance/exit was blocked. Go back to Bryant park !!! Seriously f*** fashion week it’s so overhyped. And this trick and his “line” – please! He totally screwed that designer over
Me too. No doubt someone will rip Meryl Stereos lines from Devil Wears Prada and post about how “important” fashion is and yada yada yada, so I’ll just be sitting here in the corner rolling my eyes and wondering what’s more reprehensible, this or beauty pageants.
Are you naked right now? Do you go to work naked? Fashion impacts everyone’s life. So, important? I would say so because it does affect all of us, each and every day. Is it frivolous at times? Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s pointless and without merit.
@Sugar
From what I have seen on the mean streets of Delaware, “fashion” has very little impact on most people. 😉
@Sugar, fashion is not important, clothing is. Two completely different things. And the testimony of this walks the streets of the world everyday, sadly.
You are conflating fashion and apparel. Fashion is a beaux arte and is as important a cultural medium of expression and development as painting, architecture, literature and music.
Fashion and clothing are not the same thing. One is an art form, the other is bodily covering. We all need clothes, but we don’t all need fashion. Shutting down a train station for a fashion show is akin to shutting down a train station so you can set up an art gallery in there, or showcase a performance art installation. Please tell me that’s “necessary”.
Well, apparently 232, 000 people attend fashion week and it bring $20 million into the New York economy.
If doors and train are blocked, that’s poor planning, not bad fashion.
“Fashion is a beaux arte and is as important a cultural medium of expression and development as painting, architecture, literature and music.”
Yes fashion is an art form, and I guess some people find it entertaining, but I respectfully disagree about its importance. High fashion is like the circus of beaux arte. It’s like watching human coat hangers in outlandish garb that no one will ever wear stomp down an artificial runway under artificial lights – a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
The visual arts change how we see the world. Architecture – and design and even interior decorating – affect how we live every day. Literature opens our minds to the full range of human emotions and the endless possibilities in life. Music moves our souls and provides the soundtrack of our lives. Movies and theater challenge our assumptions or make us feel something. But fashion is off in its own little world. How does it affect real people? How does it challenge our assumptions or feelings? Who cares about Kanye’s line of body condoms? If high fashion ceased to exist, our lives would not be diminished in any way – and New York probably makes more money off the Rockettes.
How did the invention of shoes and moccasins and boots and winter gear affect global migration?
How did wearing and then the of dropping petticoats and corsets for pants affect the real lives of women?
How did the power suit mirror the rise of women in corporate business in the 70s?
…and on and on and on….
@Belle Epoch: I take your point, truly, but there really are many, many people who find fashion to be their outlet – and their opportunity – to experience and express all those attributes you mention as benefits found with other art forms.
“But fashion is off in its own little world.”
Well, perhaps it is until it walks out the door and gets itself into the street, or hits a newspaper article, or gets photographed for a magazine spread; then, suddenly, it’s no longer in its own rarefied atmosphere anymore. Imo, there is a constant dialogue – in many realms of creative, social and intellectual life – of back-and-forth between fashion and plenty of other creative arts.
In fact, if you look at it another way, fashion is the means for lots of folks to be able to experience art and express a perspective and possibly challenge or inspire or intrigue others daily – out there on the streets or in a subway, vs. being relegated to a museum or theatre or library or neighborhood – changing the landscape (and potentially the perspective or aesthetic sensibility) of anyone who sees them, even if only a tiny bit.
As precious as some couture or as silly as some fashion circles may seem, I think there is so much going back and forth – faster than ever now – that fashion can actually, quickly be a much more democratic and daily art form if you choose to look at it or enjoy it in that way.
I get a kick when someone has ‘done themselves up’ because I see them as walking art, using their own body as a canvas and a frame for an image they’re in the process of creating. Their spirit and willingness to do so and share it with me makes me happy, and I find it inspiring myself. It sends my thoughts off into a thousand directions, and I enjoy that a lot. It also reminds me to have the courage to be my own unique self, too, and that’s a gift of solidarity from them to me.
Belle Epoch
I love your comment but must respectfully disagree with your respectful disagreement 😉
You described a fashion show, not fashion. Couture is very much a high art form. The cultural milieu of society can be captured at any given time by its fashion. Design, textur, color, interpretation of form and function etc are as much a social survey as music, theater etc. and don’t even get me started on iconography and allegory lol.
“Fashion is about more than dresses…it has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening around us.” – Coco Chanel
I would argue that if you substituted the word fashion in the above quote and replaced it with opera, ballet or photography no one would disagree.
You don’t think that photography has affected human lives?
Agreed. As someone who loves art, but cannot sing or act or paint and quickly realized she was not great and dancing, fashion is a way I can express myself artistically. Meryl Streep’s speech was actually very true. Unless you literally just cover your body with anything at hand without any thought about what those items are, you are influenced by fashion.
I really enjoyed the thoughtful responses to my comment. I was talking strictly about high fashion that’s even beyond couture – the kind of runway show that looks like aliens with clothes no one could possibly wear. Like the show where the men all had their junk showing. Why???
Apparel is, as someone pointed out, a different story. Fashion “styles,” from hoop skirts to hoodies – clothes that are actually worn by real people – of course have enormous cultural significance. Personal style is the most fun of all – when you see someone who feels like a million bucks in some unique and probably weird personal getup.
Photography is part of the visual arts, yes?
I’m waiting for this one to end, too. Every time I see “NYFW”, I do the double-look – I need to reassure myself that it does not say “NSFW”.
Kanye West is a rude, inconsiderate, deluded oik.
Oh another round of homeless couture courtesy of Kanye West
Yet another example of Kanye showing himself to be the selfish, oblivious to everything/one else but Kanye, person that he is.
I have a friend who works in the fashion industry and it’s insanely hard work putting together shows for fashion week. Mega bucks, mega extra hours of work, setting up with models that work with your specific clothes, photographers, vying for the time spot/location you hope for, etc. It’s the bread and butter for those designers, not a whim for someone like Kanye’s side “work” (hobby.)
It was a launch for a new line for Anne Bowan, too. Imagine her disappointment. I feel so bad for her, and you’re right – this is just a little hobby for him, and it was a really important moment for her.
i wonder if he took scheduling lightly because he thought that Anna Wintour will side with him rather than with Anne Bowen. i wonder whether he would’ve pulled this off if there was a higher profile designer in that particular time slot.
although i’m not hip enough to know any streetwear designer names.
btw because clothes don’t just grow on trees or fall from skies, is someone going to take the fall for this? some poor sheep from Adidas might be offered up to be blamed for this scheduling conflict.
Is anyone surprised that Kenye is an asshole? He thrives on controversy, and by now he has learned Kris’ motto: ‘Any publicity, no matter who’s toes you step on.’
Kanye is an a-hole, but so is Wintour. They need to boot her increasingly irrelevant ass from planning NYFW, and a cockup this big is as good an excuse as any.
I’m just so sad that Adidas and Fashion Week are in the same sentence. Chanel and Schiaparelli must be spinning in their graves.
Had exactly the same thought.
But in a way, it must be noted that the dubious CFDA has now reaped the ‘rewards’ of what it has, itself, sewn.
+ everything
He just doesn’t care about the other designers. Why would he? He is the most brilliant, creative, special snowflake to ever exist. Everyone else should just shut up and step aside while he amazes us all with his vision.
Gag.
“Much talked about…doesn’t really equal good…”.
Yep, that says it all and it brings me to a comparison I can’t help making. The same can be said for Donald Trump, and I think that comment belongs here, since Kanye, in all his pompous delusion, announced he will run for President in 2020.
Woke up in the middle of the night with my t.v. on to hear Trump in Dallas blathering on and on about how he’s surging, yet it is not being mentioned by the media, how his “white, let’s say blonde” hair (HIS WORDS) was his own. It sounded so much like a drug-induced Kanye rant (talking a million miles an hour, yet saying nothing) that it was impossible not to make comparisons.
Both Kanye and Trump ARE media sensations (arrogant and pompous ones), but not for what should be the right reasons.
Good comparison. They are both buffoons and ego-manical blowhards. They both make me want to crawl back under the covers and pull the comforter over my head. They both have some talent that is greatly overshadowed by their delusions of grandeur. I like it.
The two of them are nothing I like. Are we really going to compare every celeb with an ego problem to Trump?
I have no words. The effort this designer must have put in to show their collection only to be pushed aside by this ass. I genuinely feel for her. What a heartless bastard. This really speaks to his character. He has no consideration for others. Apparently all the money in the world can’t by class.
No one is buying your shit anyway Kanye. It sucks.
Did his previous line ever make it into stores? I don’t remember hearing about it beyond that show.
Just such a douchebag, and such a hypocritical fake one at that. It drives me up the wall how he says one thing and then does another. How when he used to dress nicely and have a certain style and now he wears sweats to be all ‘fashion!’.
Like at the end of the day he’ll probably blame any criticism he gets for this stunt on them not liking him because he’s black when he disses and dismisses the black community so much until his wallet needs financing.
I’m not a fashion person but as others have said there’s a certain level of respect you give and earn anyone who works hard to create something. If someone did to Kanye what he did to these designers he’d be screaming into a megaphone about it.
I think there’s a typo in the headline…You spelled “real” o-t-h-e-r”. 😉
Ha. Exactly.
I feel so bad for the designer and her team, all of that hard work and money spent wasted because this as*hole felt like it. Shame on Anna Wintour for supporting this idiot.
Its impossible to put together a fashion show of that magnitude in two days or even a week, so chances are it has been planned for months but they wanted the element of surprise to have the press all focused on it. I actually blame the CFDA for this as they should have at least privately informed the affected designers, and/or not allow any other show to be booked on that slot so the other designers could make arrangements ahead of time.
If this happened to me i would be furious.
They could have been working on it for months but that doesn’t mean he let anyone know what was going on. Also, could he have possibly bypassed the CFDA? Just playing the devil’s advocate.
Kinda sounds like that’s possibly what he did. He’s become arrogant and egocentric enough and has surrounded himself with enough “yes”-people that he could’ve been planning this for months and just assumed that the CFDA and other designers at FW would accommodate him without issue. Because he’s Kanye.
If the CFDA was in on, and approved of, what Kanye was planning, they just screwed Kanye over. The president of the CFDA disavowed any prior knowledge of the show and blamed the entire mess on Kanye/Adidas for not telling anyone at the CFDA so this all could’ve been avoided.
I’m sorry but they need to put their foot down on baby Yeezus
Why does the fashion world keep catering to this idiot and Kimbecile? His ‘design’ are hideous and she always looks like a fashion DON’T.
Kimbicile!!! You are my hero for that
How long does it take to design pantyhose shirts? Neh, he is a douche. He did this to upstage everyone so he and his blow up doll can bring their crying toddler to an inappropriate setting at an inappropriate time for her.
But don’t you guys know that everything should stop to accommodate the genius that is Kanye? No one else matters. Just him and his real doll, street walker dressed, vapid wife. We should all be thankful that we are getting to live on the same planet and share time and space with someone so amazing.
I am very disappointed with the misleading headline. I was expecting a story about Kanye jumping up on stages to shill his own stuff at every show. Of course, the week isn’t over.
Is he going to torment, er, display, er, risk little Nori in the first row of his show? If so, look for signs of heavy medication. In Nori, I mean.
I’m still confused about the target for his Adidas line and why it makes sense to show them at this kind of event. Is there really a market for what we saw last year? Are people other than the Kardashians actually buying his stuff as displayed in fashion shows? A real sportswear/activewear line (if that’s what they’re aiming for, hard to tell from last year) would seem to be best displayed elsewhere for sales to the target consumers. Or do other designers show such things in these kinds of shows?
Nobody is buying his Adidas line except for yeezy sneakers.
Fashion folks live for drama like this.
Is it because designers are afraid to expose this fraud for fear of being politically incorrect? He and the Mrs. are delusional.
I would say that shit like this is the reason why no one in the fashion world takes him seriously, but then there’s that whole issue of him lacking any talent in this area. He needs to give it up and let go. Couture is never going to be his thing. No one wants to wear his lame designs. His only success has been with casual, normal things like jeans and sweatshirts and sneakers. No one is walking around in the trash he “designed” for adidas.
It seems like a douche move, but who knows? Maybe they’ll both benefit from the PR.
Apologies for the tangent but I keep misreading “NYFW” as “NSFW” and when I see it in the headline with Kanye and Kim’s name attached, I keeping thinking, Oh lord no – it is too early and too fine a day for any of that nonsense
I misread it too!:D
Narcissists gonna be narcissistic. Why is anyone surprised by this?
Anyway tomorrow it will be awesome to see all the horrible collection he will present !
When people with power use it in ways that are harmful to others without any consideration my blood boils. He is an idiot but so is everyone else who puts up with his behaviour and let him indulge when there’s people whose life is dedicated to hard work in fashion. He didn’t earn it at all. Hope his fashion line fails and is mocked. I have no sympathy for these type of people.
Didn’t Wintour say say basically the same thing when she got heat for putting KK on the Vogue cover? They are controversial (meaning not necessarily good) and it sells? So basically she created this little monster that is going to bite her ass.
it’s like The Emperor’s New Clothes. Everyone is too scared to tell him and his mannequin “wife” they are a laughing stock. However….now that it’s starting to impact REAL designers and REAL talent and REAL businessmen and businesswomen, hopefully some brave soul…a hero really…will have the damn guts to scream, “Hey! Look everyone! Kanye and KimBot ain’t got no clothes on!” and the veil will lift from brainwashed eyes and the fashion world will rejoice in true couture and elegance once again!
I love fairy tales….
Note: Kanye is indeed a businessman. I didn’t mean to diss him there….he just has NO business in fashion. *sigh* I miss pre-KimBot Kanye so much.
I hope so! His designs suck,
To Anne Bowen: I’ve no clue what your clothing/fashion line looks like, but I can tell you this with great certainty, anything you put out there is better than anything Kanye West has “designed”. The items from his last foray into fashion look like poop colored dance wear. Terrible stuff.
I doubt the thoughtless pig even cared. It’s ALL ABOUT KANYE. The classless punk couldn’t spell etiquette if he used spell check.
kanye=ignorant unfeeling douchbag
The day will come where Kanye and KIm will reap what they sew.
LOL! I see what you did there…Bravo!
it’s sad that all this guy does is self-serving.
As a designer Ye is a joke. Addidas is a joke. Wintour is a joke. Yetrashian are a disgusting clan and these two are the worse dressed in any room, consistently. Fashion is dead if his is a collection.