The 1990s was not only an era of global expansion for American designers, it was the decade when New York fashion remapped itself and downtown emerged as a center of creativity and rebellion.
Nightlife and the art scene started drawing people below 14th Street in the 1980s. The rents in then dilapidated SoHo drew many young talents. “It was the coolest place in the world, it had no stores,” recalls Isaac Mizrahi, who launched his business there. But it wasn’t just the rents that were attractive to young American designers, observes In Vogue host Hamish Bowles: “Rather downtown offered a space for people who felt like they didn’t necessarily fit the commercial mold that defined uptown fashion brands.” Designers like Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui who definitely weren’t angling to dress the ladies who lunch set.
“People were just really interested in New York designers because there was suddenly this new energy coming out of New York,” remembers Sui. It helped that the city’s shows were (mostly) consolidated in the tents at Bryant Park in 1993. The reorganization started drawing more interest from Europe and the East, and the buzz around the city increased. International names got caught up in the act, bringing their collections to New York, or, in the case of the Austrian Helmut Lang, actually moving here.
Ironically, it was Lang who ended up codifying what we now think of as the downtown look. “He gave the city of New York an incredible uniform to wear, a kind of cross gender, cross age uniform,” observes Vogue’s Fashion News Director Mark Holgate. And not just that. By moving his New York show to the top of the four-city show circuit he forced the rearrangement of the fashion calendar, giving new primacy to NYC. “Helmut,” says Bowles, “pulled New York City into the future with him.”
Learn more about the rise of downtown New York on In Vogue: The 1990s. Joining Vogue’s editorial team on this episode are, in order of appearance: Actor and comedian Sandra Bernhard; actors Claire Danes and Julia Stiles; designers Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Isaac Mizrahi; musician Thirstin Howl the 3rd; actor Kristin Davis; designer Calvin Klein; actor Meg Ryan; photographer Ryan McGinley; musician Kim Gordon; artist and archivist Yukie Ohta, founder of SoHo Memory Project; designers Anna Sui, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, and Francisco Costa; and fashion consultant Fern Mallis, former Executive Director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
In Vogue: The 1990s airs Fridays from September 17. Listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts. The LEGO Group is a launch sponsor.
Listen to “Episode 8: London Libertines: Galliano, McQueen, Chalayan, and McCartney,” here.
Listen to “Episode 7: Queering Culture,” here.
Listen to “Episode 6: Tom Ford’s Gucci,” here.
Listen to “Episode 5: Prada: A Revolution from Within,” here.
Listen to “Episode 4: Karl Lagerfeld the Creative Director,” here.
Listen to “Episode 3: Brand Americana,” here.
Listen to “Episode 2: Grunge Strikes Back,” here.
Listen to “Episode 1: The Rise of the Supermodel,” here.
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