New York Fashion Week and Real Estate

Image via Pixabay

New York is among the global “big four” fashion capitals of the world along with Paris, Milan and London and is home to many well-known brands including Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Ann Taylor, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. And Fashion Week, whether its Paris, Milan, London or New York, presents an opportunity not only for designers and fashion lovers to showcase their talent but also to create jobs and economic opportunities for tailors, dressmakers, textile machine setters, operators, makeup artists, among many others. And this also includes those in real estate.

From Parks to Unique Venues

New York Fashion Week is not only about presenting a clothing line but also about putting on a true show. From venue selection to backdrops to lighting to curating, brands will do whatever it takes to make a maximum impact for the insiders. In the early 1940s, the event alternated between the Plaza and Pierre hotels, with writers and editors housed on-site, but over the years, the location has been wide-ranging with locations from upper crust Uptown to a pit stop in Midtown, to the outer boroughs and beyond.

For 16 years “the shows,” as they were called, took place in tents in Bryant Park, but nowadays the tents have been replaced by cooler runway settings such as a waterfront carnival, converted railway terminals or a former post office. Most NYFW shows are held at Spring Studios in TriBeCa, but more and more designers choose to present in original venues throughout the city. Last year, designer Kerby Jean-Raymond showed his highly anticipated Pyer Moss collection at the historic Kings Theater in Brooklyn; Tommy Hilfiger held his Zendaya-inspired collection parade through the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and Rihanna took Fenty to the Barclays Center.

The Effect of Media on Hospitality

The fashion industry has an impact on real estate regarding venues booked, and it also benefits the hospitality sector. New York had more than “14,000 rooms in construction across the market” as of August 2019, which represents a 11.7 percent of existing supply, according to STR data showed on Travel Weekly.  

The same data shows that between 2015 and 2017, the consistent growth has occurred amid a period of negative RevPAR (revenue per available room) performance, followed by 2018 when RevPAR grew by 3.5 percent. As of September 2019, NY has registered the largest drop in ADR, -8.3 percent to $251,71. More recent data from STR shows New York City leads with more than 13,100 rooms, a 10.3 percent growth of the market’s existing supply, followed by Las Vegas, Orlando and Los Angeles.

Although most hotel chains give influencers, bloggers and other fashion icons or stars free rooms, their request for them is to show their followers where they are staying and as a result, the hotels receive free advertising and future bookings. Besides hotel chains implementing this measure, Airbnb is stealing attention, too. In 2016, the company gave Kim Kardashian and Kanye West a $30 million New York City Airbnb penthouse, just because.