CFDA and KFN Celebrate New Company Building NYFW Event Platform
In a strategic shift to maximize New York Fashion Week’s reach and monetize it, KF Fashion and N4XT Experiences have teamed up to create a new company KFN to build a New York Fashion Week event platform. That new venture is moving ahead with the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It will include mapping out a plan for digital and physical infrastructures for the industry that will be announced in April.
Both KF Fashion and N4XT are companies that specialize in global events. KF Fashion is an offshoot of Kilburn Media, a media and entertainment company that offers motion picture financing and production, television production and international distribution, media and entertainment corporate investments and content aggregation. Jon Favreau’s “Chef” and Andie MacDowell’s “Mighty Fine” are part of its portfolio. N4XT Experiences acquired Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2022. The company hails itself as operating at the “intersection of fashion, beauty, gaming and entertainment.”
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Through a multiyear alliance with KFN, the CFDA aims to boost innovation at New York Fashion Week and raise the profiles of American designers. KFN kicked off its foray into the fashion events space and the start of NYFW Wednesday night by lighting the Empire State Building with the help of model Winnie Harlow and the designer Prabal Gurung. Afterward, they kept the celebration going with Joseph Altuzarra, Sergio Hudson, Mike Amiri, Rachel Scott, Martha Hunt, Dao-Yi Chow and others at the CFDA x KFN dinner at Chez Margaux.
Noting in a statement how the CFDA is the official organizer of the NYFW and owner of the Fashion Calendar, chief executive officer Steven Kolb said the CFDA remains firmly committed “to supporting initiatives that bring fresh perspectives to fashion week and empower designers to succeed.”
Securing brand sponsors to help offset the cost of a fashion show venue, casting and production has largely been the extent of any financial support for designers taking part in NYFW. Over the years some American brands and designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors and Area have periodically offered buy now, wear now items on their respective runways with varying degrees of success. But the shows themselves have not been moneymakers — as in creating new revenue streams beyond introducing the industry and consumers to their latest designs. Although some creatives have floated the prospect of selling tickets to consumers to the shows, that has never gained a lot of traction with big-name designers.
Kolb was joined at Wednesday’s kickoff with N4XT Experience’s CEO and cofounder Imad Izemrane, who is also the cofounder of Spring Place and cofounder of KFN. Kilburn’s CEO and KF Fashion’s cofounder is Mark Manuel. Given their areas of expertise, there is room for livestreaming the shows, creating entertainment content, live events, gaming and immersive experiences. Intending to work across all platforms with designers and the industry, KFN staffers have been meeting with industry stakeholders over the last several months, according to a spokesperson.
In addition to livestreaming the shows, creating live events, gaming and immersive experiences for NYFW, KFN is “building a new monetary model that will bring dollars to the designers,” Manuel said via text Thursday.
A KFN spokesperson said via email, “We are building our own platform based on feedback from the industry that there is a huge void in support for New York based designers, during fashion week. And we intend to fill that void. With the support of the CFDA, we look to be collaborative in the months ahead to align with designers, their needs and how we can begin providing the backing they are looking for to amplify their show efforts to the caliber and experience expected.”
In years past, IMG has had an integral role in NYFW. After more than five years of using Spring Studios as the official hub of NYFW: The Shows, IMG said it would not return to that TriBeCa location in last May, as WWD reported. At that time, IMG pivoted from producing a centralized venue to focus more on facilitating brand partnerships and creative collaborations between brands and designers. The aim was to provide tailored support for designer’s year-round needs. An IMG executive could not be reached immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon.
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