You're listening to Comedy Central. Wow, it's New York Fashion Week, the semi annual event when designers show their collections to the world so fast fashion brands can decide which styles to rip off. But unlike wet subway seats, fashion Week hasn't always been in New York institution. It's had a long walk down the runway to get where it is today. It all started in France and the six hundreds, which might not surprise you, but back then Paris was very
much not known for fashion. The French were about as stylish as a croc wearing a Fannie pack. At that time, Madrid was actually the fashion capital of the world, and thanks to their tiny tapas, they could actually fit into all the sample sizes. But everything changed for France when Louis was um, you know, King of Fied. Louis turned France into a major power, and he wanted the threads to show it. For him, fashion was essential to the monarchies prestige. I mean, no one wants to be executed
by a guy wearing cargo shorts. Louie's obsession built up France's fashion and textile industry and soon turned Paris into the world center of fashion, which by default made it the world center of cocaine and bitchy gossip as well. It was under Louis that France established the idea of showing fall designs in the spring and spring designs in the fall, so you can thank him for that trendy coat you're wearing in August. Who new vocor was so hot?
France continued to dominate the fashion industry for centuries until World War Two, when Paris was under German occupation. This grinded their fashion influence to a halt because a no one could come to Paris to shop and be Coco Channel was too busy banging Nazis to make any clothes. I know, terrible right, But no matter how many times I remind them of this, the boutique still won't give me a discount on a classic flat bag. But Paris's defeat turned out to be a win for the American
fashion industry. The US seized on the opportunity to fill that gap quicker than a forever twenty one dress falls apart in the laundry. In ninety three, America held the first Fashion Week, or as it was, no Men Press Week, started by a publicist Eleanor Lambert. It launched the careers of designers like Hattie Carnegie, Norman Morrell, and Claire mccartell,
whose claim to fame was inventing sportswear. And by sportswear, I mean any casual clothing, not the ath leisure that you wear even though your main exercise is getting a caramel frap in the Starbucks drive through three. Oh who stain? Bit is tough? Before Press Week, magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar were really all about European designers. They treated American designers the way they treated the Kardashians. In two thousand ten, they ignored them, But once Press Week started,
they treated American fashion like well, the Kardashians. Now, she said she eat poop to look good? Should I eat poop? New York Fashion Week became such an institution that fashion capitals like Paris, London and Milan soon added their own versions, and they continue pushing the fashion envelope to this day. You could only get away with severed heads in Milan. If that was on a New York runway, everyone would
just assume it was another murder. As time passed, New York Fashion Week became home of so many seminal moments, like in the fifties when James Scolano's popularized feminine glamour, or Adolpho who gained fame in the sixties for his emphasis on accessories. And in the seventies, Normacamali introduced the sleeping bag coat, although if you just were your kids sleeping bag, it looks almost as good. As styles changed, so did fashion week itself. In the seventies and eighties,
it turned into a NonStop party. Shows were held at nightclubs and celebrities started attending. By the early two thousands, celebs had become a permanent mainstay. Sarah, Jessica Parker, Paris Hilton. Everyone was there, and that Hollywood glamour is still present to this day. But what was Larry David doing in the front row? He looked so miserable to be there.
He should have been on the catwalk. Through the years, Fashion Week has had different homes in the city, from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center, but the most important place it's moved to in recent years is the same place you get all your porn the Internet. Shows started live streaming, and designers began inviting bloggers and influencers to events. This all democratized fashion and made it more accessible to the public, Or at least that's what I tell my therapist when
we're working through my online shopping addiction, Timbrook. New York Fashion Week hasn't just reflected the changing technology, It's also held a mirror up to society, from designers responding to the Me Too movement to the ongoing fight for more racial diversity on the runway, New York has been the site of progress for trans models, disabled models, embody positivity, which is kind of the least the fashion industry could do after telling women not to eat for the last
hundred years. So now you know everything about New York Fashion Week and how it came to be and how it's changing for the better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some poop to eat. Here we go. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at eleven Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast