The Fashion Center Business Improvement District announced a new public art exhibit, dubbed “Sidewalk Catwalk,” for the stretch of Broadway between Times Square and Herald Square.

Wednesday, 17 March 2010 08:38 by joel

By Adrianne Pasquarelli REPRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM Crain's New York Business

The exhibit, in which 25 to 30 mannequins will model outfits from high-profile designers such as Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors, begins June 24 and runs through Labor Day. Fashion District Mannequins

Broadway’s sidewalks between Times Square and Herald Square will soon be teeming with even more beautifully dressed, fashionable figures. But unlike the hundreds of tourists and New Yorkers who walk the street on a daily basis, these new figures won’t be moving.

The Fashion Center Business Improvement District announced a new public art exhibit, appropriately dubbed "Sidewalk Catwalk," on Tuesday. The exhibit, in which 25 to 30 mannequins will model outfits from high-profile designers such as Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors, begins June 24 and runs through Labor Day. The figures will be located inside the pedestrian plazas on Broadway.

"There’s no destination in this neighborhood," said Fashion Center Executive Director Barbara Randall. "We wanted to celebrate the Fashion District and express what this neighborhood is all about and its creative talent that is the home of American fashion."

Ms. Randall said that the exhibit will include fiberglass mannequins designed by Ralph Pucci, who creates the figures at upscale department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York. Each fashion designer will use materials from the area, such as buttons and trim, along with heavy duty, weatherproof items—not fabrics—from nonprofit Materials Connection on West 23rd Street.

"We’re hoping they view it as more of a work of art—a sculpture—than an outfit," said Ms. Randall.

So far, 20 designers, from Betsey Johnson to Kenneth Cole, have signed on for the project, and Macy’s is a key sponsor. The department store plans to celebrate the art initiative with special window displays and exclusive merchandise. Meanwhile, the Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology will have their own mannequins to dress.

"This groundbreaking, outdoor, public runway is destined to become New York City’s major tourist attraction this summer," said Fern Mallis, senior vice president of IMG Fashion—which produces Mercedes Benz Fashion Week—and a chairperson for the project, in a statement. "It will attract every fashion-loving citizen and tourist who would do anything to get inside the Bryant Park Tents."

Incidentally, Fashion Week spent its final days at Bryant Park last month and will move uptown to Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park this fall.

On Sept. 6, after the exhibit concludes, the sculptures will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to Materials for the Arts, a nonprofit that supplies arts materials to New York City public schools.

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More Free New York

Monday, 15 June 2009 09:47 by joel

Save your money - look what's happening this summer in New York City FOR FREE!

MOVIES, PARADES AND STREET FESTIVALS For information on MUSIC and CONCERTS CLICK HERE

  • Now through August 14 RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL
  • Sunday, June 21 Columbus Avenue Summer Festival Columbus Ave, 86-96 Sts
  • Sunday, June 28 NYC LGBT Pride Parade 5th Avenue & 52nd St. to Christopher & Greenwich St.
  • Sunday July 5 USO - Avenue of the Americas Summerfest, (on 6th Avenue from 42nd - 56th Street)
  • Friday July 10th Community Day Festival, (on Broad St. from Water - Beaver Street)
  • Saturday July 11th Park Avenue Summerfest, (on Park Avenue South from 17th - 23rd Street)
  • Sunday July 12th NYC Celebration of Nations Festival, (on Madison Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Saturday July 18th East Side Summer Festival, (on Lexington Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Sunday July 19th NYC Unfolds Street Fair, (on Broadway from Houston - Grand Street)
  • Saturday July 25th Washington Sq. Summer Fair, (on Bleecker St. from Broadway - 6th Ave. )
  • Sunday July 26th 52nd Association Jazz Festival, (on 52nd Street from Lexington - 7th Avenue)
  • Friday July 31st Manhattan Youth Fair, (on Greenwich St. from Barclay - Chambers Street)
  • Saturday August 1st The C.O.R.E. Health Expo, (on 7th Avenue from 47th - 57th Street)
  • Sunday August 2nd Festival of the Americas, (on 6th Avenue from 42nd - 56th Street)
  • Friday August 7th Financial Community Day Series, (on Maiden Lane from Water - South Street)
  • Saturday August 8th Greenwich Village Festival, (on Greenwich Avenue from 6th - 7th Avenue)
  • Sunday August 9th Lexington Avenue Summerfest, (on Lexington Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Saturday August 15th Summer Seaport Festival, (on Water Street from Fulton - Broad Street)
  • Sunday August 16th Madison Avenue Summer Fair, (on Madison Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Saturday August 22nd The Great Irish Festival, (on 6th Avenue from 42nd - 56th Street)
  • Sunday August 23rd Third Avenue Merchandise Fair, (on 3rd Avenue from 23rd - 34th Street)
  • Saturday August 29th Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Festival, (on 2nd Ave. from 45th - 57th Street)
  • Saturday August 29th Down By The Boardwalk Festival, (on West 10th St. from Surf Ave. - Boardwalk)
  • Sunday August 30th Big Apple Performing Arts Festival, (on 7th Avenue from 47th - 57th Street)
  • Tuesday September 1st Columbia University Community Block Party, (on 120th St. from Broadway - Amsterdam Ave.)
  • Friday September 4th Fulton Street Follies, (on Fulton St. from Water - Gold Street)
  • Saturday September 5th 52nd Street Fall Festival, (on 52nd Street from Lexington - 7th Ave.)
  • Sunday, Sept. 6 Brazilian Independence Day Street Fair 46th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue
  • Monday, Sept. 7 West Indian American Day Parade, Brooklyn
  • Monday September 7th M.E.C.A. Family Festival, (on Lexington Avenue from 34th - 42nd Street)
  • Sept. 10-20 Feast of San Gennaro, Mulberry St., Canal-Houston Sts.
  • Saturday September 12th Gramercy Park Neighborhood Festival, (on 3rd Avenue from 14th - 23rd Street)
  • Sunday September 13th Tudor City Festival, (on Lexington Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Friday September 18th Tribeca Community Day Fall Festival, (on Church Street from Canal - Franklin Street)
  • Saturday September 19th 7th Avenue - Guardian Angels Fair, (on 7th Avenue from 47th - 57th Street)
  • Sunday September 20th Eighth Avenue Fall Festival, (on 8th Avenue from 42nd - 57th St.)
  • Friday September 25th N.Y.C. Police Museum Festival, (on Old Slip from Water - South St.)
  • Saturday September 26th Broadway Autumn Fair, (on Broadway from Waverly Pl.- 14th Street)
  • Sunday September 27th Lexington Avenue Fall Festival, (on Lexington Avenue from 34th - 42nd Street)
  • Friday October 2nd United Nations Fall Festival, (on 47th St. from 1st - 2nd Avenue)
  • Saturday October 3rd Union Square Autumn Fair, (on Broadway from 17th - 23rd Street)
  • Sunday October 4th N.Y.C. Oktoberfest, (on Lexington Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Friday October 9th Christopher Columbus Block Party, (on Murray Street from Broadway - Church Street)
  • Saturday October 10th Avenue Of The Americas Family Expo, (On 6th Avenue from 42nd - 56th Street)
  • Sunday October 11th Eighth Avenue Autumn Festival, (on 8th Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Monday October 12th Columbus Day Festival, (on Broadway from Cedar St. - Battery Pl. & on Whitehall St. from Stone - Water Street)
  • Friday October 16th Financial Community Day Festival Series
  • Saturday October 17th Washington Square Festival, (on Waverly Pl. from Broadway - MacDougal Street)
  • Sunday October 18th The Great Third Avenue Fair, (on 3rd Avenue from 23rd - 34th Street)
  • Saturday, Oct. 24 Americana Jazz Festival, 52nd Street, Fifth-Seventh Aves.
  • Saturday October 24th Park Avenue South Autumn Fair, (on Park Avenue South from 17th - 23rd St.)
  • Sunday October 25th The 7th Avenue Autumn Carnival, (on 7th Avenue from 47th - 57th Street)
  • Saturday October 31st A.D.A.'s World's Largest Block Party, (on Madison Avenue from 42nd - 57th Street)
  • Saturday, Oct. 31 Village Halloween Parade 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st Street from 7 - 10pm
  • Thursday, Nov. 26 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Central Park West, 7th Ave & 6th Ave. 9am-noon.
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