Posted on: Tuesday, August 7, 2001
Emmys hire consultant to keep 'fashion-forward'
Associated Press
Television has become one of the most influential sources of fashion trends; just check out the "Sex and the City" wannabes. But who's advising these fictional fashionables to make sure they're wearing the hippest, hottest clothes?
From now on, it will be retailer Bergdorf Goodman.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and Bergdorf recently announced a partnership that makes the high-end specialty store the "official fashion consultant" of the academy, the Emmys and the celebrations surrounding the Sept. 16 awards show.
That means Bergdorf will offer a preview of the expected trends in red-carpet fashion before the trophies are handed out next month. It also means the New York retailer will work year-round with the hundreds of Hollywood costume designers who belong to the academy to keep them abreast of what's new on runways around the world.
"Sex and the City" costume designer Patricia Field says not everyone initially recognized that the show about four single women in New York could become a fashion show — including herself and costuming partner Rebecca Weinberg.
"We wanted to give it our best, but it wasn't our intention to create a phenomenon," Field says.
At first, designers weren't eager to lend clothes because they didn't see the benefit, she says, but as the show has gained momentum, that has changed.
Bergdorf representatives attend upward of 175 fashion shows a year. They look at everything that comes down the runway, then decide what might appeal to their sophisticated clientele, store chairman Ronald Frasch says. (For example, they dismissed the recent camouflage craze.)
Bergdorf is now offering that filter to the TV shows that want to feature the top looks without having the stars look like fashion victims.
"This accelerates the link from runway to TV screen to living room," said academy president James Chabin. "What you see on TV tonight, you might walk into a store and ask for tomorrow."
