Fashion Week, Spring 2005: A User Manual

Fashion Week starts today in New York. What does it mean to you, the consumer, and how can you get something out of it?

First of all -- why you should care. At its most fundamental, Fashion Week is a marketplace. It connects buyers (from the major department stores) with sellers (fashion designers who want their clothes to be sold in those stores.) Buyers see the designers' collections, place orders for lines or individual items, and those clothes turn up in their stores in spring, where you, the shopper, buy them.

But that's changing, and Fashion Week (especially here in New York) is becoming less and less an industry thing. Instead, consumers are becoming more savvy and are able to check out the fashions firsthand -- thanks to coverage on cable (think Metro TV's Full Frontal Fashion coverage), daily newspapers, general interest magazines, and of course, specialty Web sites.

Now, shoppers are able to see for themselves which designers and collections they like -- and this, rather than what store buyers like -- is beginning to drive the market.

Runway shows are still important. But their role is changing — from a market to a marketing device, intended to affect consumers rather than retailers, and meant to generate excitement with the public through photographs, television footage and Web coverage. "A lot of it is, very frankly, for the press," Mr. Murray of Calvin Klein said.

More from the NYT on the changing role of runway shows in New York.

Of course, what's shown on the runway and available at high-end retailers isn't exactly what Joe and Jane Smith can afford to wear every day.

That's why Fashion Week is important for a second reason. In a larger sense, what's shown on the runways guides fashion trends even outside of couture. Changes in fabrics, cuts, you name it -- they're introduced on the runways and ultimately filter down to Target and K-Mart.

Watching the runways at Fashion Week can give you an idea of what's "in" for next season.

Finally, observing Fashion Week is important for a third reason, and that's as a source of ideas of how to dress. Granted, we can't all pull off some of the wilder looks we see on the runways. But they can help to inform our ideas of what to wear and how to dress.

For instance, look for pattern/color/fabric combinations that you can incorporate into your own wardrobe. Look for new ways that designers are using or playing with common elements -- how are they accessorizing their models? How are they re-envisioning older looks? Designers often love to play with the definition of casual clothes -- look for how you can dress up a casual look by emulating what you see on the runway.

Above all, keep an eye out for outfits that you like. You might not be able to afford that great look you saw at the Helmut Lang show, but you can put together an outfit that approximates it.