By ERIC WILSON

DURING the five years that MAC was the cosmetics sponsor of fashion shows in Bryant Park in New York, the makeup company made headlines with press conferences attended by supermodels and lithe young dancers who wore body paint in the place of clothing. But MAC, while spending millions, had to share a rather circuslike stage with other sponsors who were competing for attention, sometimes including makers of doughnuts, cameras, toilets and Big Macs.

Now the company has decided to end its support of that event — Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, as it’s called — and will instead present its own shows at Milk Studios in the meatpacking district. Depending on your perspective, it could be viewed as a complement to Fashion Week, or a new competitor. Proenza Schouler, Erin Fetherston and Alexander Wang are among the dozen designers who have already signed on.

The event, with the working title of MAC at Milk, will overlap with the established Fashion Week, beginning Sept. 10.

As John Demsey, the Estée Lauder group president who oversees MAC, described it, the idea was to create a space for emerging and international designers at a time when they need more corporate support. The designers will not be charged for the use of the studios, whereas the Bryant Park shows typically cost around $25,000 for the smallest space.

“Not everybody wants to be in a giant tent environment,” Mr. Demsey said. “And not everybody should be.”

While Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week usually includes about 60 shows held in Bryant Park, hundreds of other designers present their collections at other locations, causing endless frustration among retailers and editors trying to see them all. Mazdack Rassi, the founder of Milk Studios, said that there is room for about 25 to 30 presentations in his building.

And because of the relationships of MAC and the studio with top designers, they were able to draw some names at the vanguard of fashion who do not normally consider showing in the same space as anyone else. Band of Outsiders, Preen and ThreeAsFour will also show there.

“It’s not just an alternative show space we are creating, but truly a movement,” Mr. Rassi said.

Mr. Demsey said that the MAC at Milk shows are being coordinated with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and will be included in the official calendar of Fashion Week.

Meanwhile, Maybelline, a division of L’Oréal, will replace MAC as the cosmetics sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Zach Eichman, a vice president of IMG Fashion, which produces those shows, said the company welcomed the new event and would coordinate its bus service between shows where possible.

“We can’t do every show in the tents,” he said. “We hope they will be successful.”

Gilt Is Golden

Almost every weekday at noon, Eastern Standard Time, 100,000 to 200,000 people log on to Gilt.com, one of a handful of Web sites that offer discounted designer merchandise in an online version of a sample sale, only without the throwing of elbows.

Dresses from Alexander McQueen and men’s suits from Thom Browne are offered at about half their retail price. They go fast. The fastest transaction, said Susan Lyne, the chief executive of Gilt, took all of nine seconds from the time a customer visited the site to checking out with a dress. So it would be fair to call the company, less than two years old and with sales of $100 million, a surprising success during the recession.

Still, not everyone is buying. Of its 1.2 million members, more than half are in their 20s, and of that group, about 250,000 visit the site twice a week or more and never make a purchase, Ms. Lyne said. The reason is pretty obvious. Even on sale, the merchandise is expensive — a Fendi bag offered this week was $1,348. Why hesitate?

So next month, Gilt is introducing a second site, called Gilt Fuse. It’s kind of like the Co-Op floor at Barneys New York, where the trendier, less expensive collections reside. Clothes from Diesel, C&C, Generra and Laundry will be offered for $75 to $150. Ms. Lyne said the company is expecting a big year: Its sales are projected to reach $400 million, or about half the size of Barneys.

“You are getting access to brands you might not ever see in your city,” Ms. Lyne said. “And it’s at a price point that is almost irresistible.”

 

SOURCE: NY TIMES