Fifty years ago, part of Manhattan’s 7th Avenue became Fashion Avenue.

On September 23, 1972, the section of 7th Avenue between 26th and 42nd Streets in the Garment District became known for everything that made it come alive: fashion.

The subtitle Fashion Avenue name was initially intended to be temporary, but part of a campaign to revitalize New York as a global fashion capital.

At the time, the name change campaign was led by Fashion Capital of the World Inc. The group was formed a year before him and is made up of a board of 50 influential her business his leaders, most of them in the women’s apparel sector (people in the menswear industry joined at a later date). ). Famous industry businessmen and designers such as Jerry Silverman and Abe Schrader were part of the group. With financial support from New York City and then-Mayor John Lindsay, Oscar de la Renta lent his name to events organized by the group.

Aside from the street renaming, the promotional moment led by Fashion Capital of the World Inc. included a series of events and fashion shows as part of New York’s first week-long Fall Fashion Festival in September 1972. was included. The aim was to attract buyers from all over the world and promote and cement the city as the fashion capital of the world.

All the fanfare, including the live fashion show in front of Rockefeller Plaza, was captured on the WWD page and aired on local television, bringing together many 7th Avenue designers and their industry counterparts, from clothing to accessories. successfully flaunted. , events and promotions focused on the factory workers, buyers and contractors of Fashion Avenue, continuing to make America’s fashion an important economic power today as it was then.

And a year after 7th Avenue’s name change, it brought American fashion even further to the fore with the famous Battle of Versailles (as WWD’s legendary publisher John B. Fairchild called it). . Funding for ailing historic sites, with the exception of America, especially New York City, which has been identified as the center of the world’s fashion industry. Not only is it a place to live, work, and do business, but it’s also a reputed fashion center in its own right.