
New fashion-focused entity KFN unveils plans to revamp NYFW
New York Fashion Week has also been the brunt of some harsh complaining about losing its luster and its inability to attract international press and buyers, which leaves those who can afford to decamp to Paris for their shows and/or sales appointments. (That said, London Fashion Week announced it would forgo its June 2025 show week to have designers invest resources into sales instead.) Thus, it's clear that fashion could use a fairy godmother.
Enter KFN, a new venture formed by Spring Place/Spring Studios' Imad Izemrane and his partner Keith Abell, who together formed N4XT Experiences, a live event company that owns Los Angeles Fashion Week, among others, and Kilburn Media's CEO Mark Manuel, who is also co-founder of KF Fashion. They plucked former IMG president Leslie Russo, the current founder of The Culture Shop, as the project architect to support designer show infrastructure and a long-term vision for the future of American fashion.
While not directly involved beyond helping to facilitate designer connections and coordinating logistics once plans are rolled out, the CFDA remains the official organizer of NYFW, owning the fashion calendar. Thus, the innovation is championed by its CEO, Steven Kolb. CFDA director of fashion week initiatives, Joseph Maglieri, stated that beyond organizing the calendar, they work to "provide resources to support the designers showing and the industry at large. The KFN Venue Collective advances that mission with even more coordination and logistics to strengthen NYFW, which also supports attendees worldwide."
The breakfast event at The Standard Hotel was attended by many of New York's beloved designers such as Dao-Yi and AnOnlychild's Maxwell Osborne of Public School fame; Prabal Gurung; Rachel Scott of Diotima; Henry Zankov; Jackson Wiederhoeft; Presley Oldham; Aaron Potts; and industry leaders such as Felita Harris of Raise Fashion; and Tenique Bernard, public relations executive who formed Black in Fashion, among others. Many in the room participated in round table discussions so fashion's core voices- the designers- had some input.
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