Inside the Premiere of Calendar Girl—the Long-Awaited Ruth Finley Documentary

Friday night is not typically scheduled with events in the New York party circuit but it was the date of choice for the premiere of Calendar Girl, the Ruth Finley documentary from director Christian D. Bruun. Those in the know, know the late Finley as the Oz-like figure behind New York Fashion Week. For nearly seven decades, if you wanted your designs to walk down a catwalk at NYFW, a call to Finley and her Fashion Calendar publication was in order. All this to say, for a film centered on dates and timing, there was really only one way to RSVP. Finley had literally made time in the calendar for much of New York’s brightest stars (in the film, we hear from Diane von Furstenberg, Bill Cunningham, Carolina Herrera) so everyone happily turned out for the event.

Set in Park Avenue’s Scandinavia House—a nod to the director’s native Denmark, guests turned up at 6:45 pm for a 7:00 pm screening. In attendance were many fashion industry heavy-hitters including Fern Mallis, Steven Kolb, and Dr. Valerie Steele. Also there were Finley’s family, the film’s writer-producer Natalie Nudell, Jeffrey Banks, Nancy Chilton, and Vogue’s Lilah Ramzi.

Everyone made their way into the screening room to watch the movie, which was filmed in 2015—a pivotal moment in the history of Fashion Calendar as it was just after the CFDA acquired the small business, run exclusively by Finley since its founding in the 1940s. In the documentary, we see the remarkable stamina of the petite Finley, who at 94 (her 95th birthday is celebrated in Calendar Girl) was still making the rounds of New York Fashion Week. She ping-pongs (at her own pace) from show to show with a smile on her face and an all-access pass to most every show worth seeing. Ralph Lauren is seen hugging Finley on his finale walk; the late Bill Cunningham makes a rare exception to speak on camera, explaining Finley s role in the launch of his William J. millinery enterprise. Fashion greats line up to praise Finley, who we lost in 2018 at the age of 98.

Four years later, much has changed in the industry. We’ve seen the rise of pandemic-era digital shows and are on the cusp of meta-verse venues. Calendar Girl documents the way things were, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of New York Fashion Week. It’s a history understandably overshadowed by designers and the clothes themselves, but what is fashion, after all, if not a business? Before the era of Instagram and our own Vogue Runway, Carolina Herrera’s longstanding coveted Monday 10 am slot meant more editor, buyer, and press-eyeballs on the collection—and it was Finley who gave it to her.

Following the film, Bruun, Nudell, Kolb made their way to the stage for a panel discussion moderated by Ramzi. Kolb spoke of the current iteration of the Fashion Calendar, which was rebranded this year to the American Collections Calendar, tracking all American designers no matter their show location. Bruun thanked his film’s many contributors and Nudell shared with the audience the digitization process she and FIT are currently undertaking—every calendar ever, available to everyone online.

Later on, at a post-screening cocktail party hosted at Scandinavia House’s second floor, guests gathered for bites catered by EN Japanese Brasserie. “This project was a seven-year labor of love, and after a year of virtual-only events and film festivals, I’m delighted everyone could gather to celebrate Ruth and the film,” said Nudell. Of the significance of the film’s release date, Nudell explained there was really only one day that made sense. “March 8, International Women’s Day,” she said. Nudell knows what Finley did—timing is everything.

Starting Tuesday, March 8, watch Calendar Girl here. In the meantime, shop the Calendar Girl merchandise here—a portion of the proceeds will benefit Citymeals on Wheels, of which Ruth was a long-time board member.