New York Fashion Week’s original mastermind, Fern Mallis, has said he’s back after a slowdown during the pandemic.

Or, as she puts it, “back to the anomaly.”

“It’s a vengeful fashion week. There are so many shows and activities, parties and dinners,” Maris said Wednesday at FIT’s Couture Council luncheon honoring Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. “That’s crazy! Almost too much actually.”

“The energy and enthusiasm are great,” Maris says. “I think people are really happy to be back. It’s back to school. Everyone’s here, lots of air kisses done, no masks. People feel really good.”

“Almost everything is decentralized,” Maris says, comparing it to the old days when almost all shows were in one place called a tent.

“It’s almost impossible to move from one show to the next because of traffic jams,” she says. “And there are a lot of really good things about competing in the same timeslot. You have to play God and make choices.”

Maris is now working with Peaceable Assembly’s Jonathan Gray to transform her “Fashion Icons” book, which includes works from Bob Mackie to Victoria Beckham, into a streaming series that includes clips from her long-running series of 92Y interviews. I’m here.

FIT’s Couture Council at Lincoln Center was also attended by Candice Bushnell, Gillian Minitor, Ellis Newhouse, Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Samira Nasr, Pete Nordstrom and Francisco Costa.