New York, August 2021 – Fern Mallis, the fashion industry doyenne most recognized as the founder of New York Fashion Week, is continuing to release new and exclusive content on her digital platform Fashion Icons: The Archive (a playlist available on the 92Y YouTube), in collaboration with the 92Y. Since premiering in February 2021 The Archive has become the exclusive digital destination for Mallis’ popular and often sold-out conversation series, Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis.

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THIS FALL IN FASHION ICONS: THE MET COSTUME INSTITUTE

This fall in Fashion Icons: From the Archives, in celebration of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute exhibit In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, Mallis is featuring three Fashion Icons who have a unique relationship with the Costume Institute:

• IRIS APFEL (4 episodes starting August 23): “The show [“Rara Avis”] was supposed to be in one gallery. It ended up by taking the whole Costume Institute! They ended up with about eighty-six outfits. It was an unusual and exciting experience.”
  The Costume Institute’s “Rara Avis” exhibit started a whole new chapter in Iris Apfel’s Fashion Icons journey. What started out as an ask by former curator Harold Koda to feature five jewelry pieces, quickly evolved into a blockbuster solo exhibition with over three hundred items. The exhibit kicked-off Apfel’s second act in Fashion, including a documentary about her life by the celebrated Albert Maysle, a teaching position at the University of Texas at Austin, and the ultimate honor: an Iris Apfel Barbie doll.

• ZAC POSEN (4 episodes starting September 13): “There was a guy giving a tour to a group of older women. I was asking a lot of questions and he asked if I was interested in interning. I remember I did the interview at Diana Vreeland’s office, and I was so nervous.”
  Posen’s meteoric rise in the Fashion industry was no accident. In high school, he interned at the Costume Institute, under former curator Richard Martin. It was an opportunity for Posen to study the history and the technique of the world’s greatest designers, which clearly influenced his creations today. It must be a full circle moment for Posen to see so many stars wear his designs to the annual Met Gala: from Dita Von Teese, to Claire Danes, to Katie Holmes and many more.

• SIMON DOONAN (4 episodes starting October 4): “The vignettes [under Diana Vreeland] were kind of hokey. When you go the Met now and see exhibits like “McQueen,” it has gone to a whole other level.”
  Doonan is known for his iconic Barneys window displays; but, did you know that Doonan cut his teeth assisting former curator Diana Vreeland as a display designer for the annual Costume Institute exhibits? It would be at the dessert party for one of the annual galas that Doonan met the man who changed his career trajectory: former Barneys CEO Gene Pressman.

Viewers were invited to vote for which Fashion Icons conversation they wanted released from the archive this fall. Apfel was the overwhelming winner with 90% of the viewers’ vote. Apfel’s episodes will be released just in time for her 100^th birthday on August 29, 2021. “I wish Iris the happiest of birthday’s and I want to be her when I grow up,” said Mallis.

The fall release of Fashion Icons: From the Archive runs until the end of October 2021.

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HAPPY TENTH ANNIVERSARY FASHION ICONS
Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis celebrates its 10^th anniversary at the 92Y on September 15, 2021. “The 92Y has become a second family for me. From Susan Engel, who originally pitched the idea for this series, to the PR team, to security, to the sound techs, to the box office crew. Each evening is masterfully produced by the most talented crew in New York City.”

Since the inaugural evening with Norma Kamali on September 15, 2011, Mallis has interviewed over 50 Fashion Icons. “Each Fashion Icon conversation is as relevant today as it was when we sat together on the 92Y stage,” said Mallis. “These intimate conversations focus on the untold stories behind each Fashion Icon’s storied careers. So many of them built their multi-million dollar brands from nothing. These stories of hardships and triumphs are truly timeless.”

19 conversations are chronicled in Mallis’ first book Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis released in 2015, including: Kamali, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Diane Von FurstenbergPolly Mellen, Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, Oscar de la Renta, Isaac Mizrahi, Kenneth Cole, John Varvatos, Vera Wang, Simon Doonan, Bruce Weber, Andre Leon Talley, and Bill Cunningham.

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Mallis is working on the next volume of her book set to be released in Spring 2022 by Rizzoli, sponsored by Nordstrom. Though the fifteen Icons for volume two remain a closely guarded secret, Mallis has a hint of what is to come. “While volume one was a “who’s who” of American fashion, in volume two, we cross the Atlantic, to include several remarkable international Fashion Icons,” said Mallis.

Mallis is also set to return to the 92Y stage with new Fashion icons conversations in Fall 2021. “I feel so much support from the 92Y team and I cannot wait to get back on stage after our two-year Covid-induced hiatus.”

When asked about which Fashion Icons will take to the stage first, Mallis said, “stay tuned.”

WATCH FASHION ICONS: THE ARCHIVE HERE

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ABOUT 92ND STREET Y

The 92nd Street Y (92Y) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92Y offers extensive classes, courses, and events online including live concerts, talks, and masterclasses; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92Y’s programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92Y.org. 

ABOUT FERN MALLIS

Hailed as the award-winning creator of New York Fashion Week, Fern Mallis has been called an industry titan, fashion doyenne, and the godmother of fashion. She is an accomplished interviewer, inspirational public speaker, sought-after consultant, and widely quoted in the fashion press and broadcast media. She is most known for her decades-long career at the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and as the Ambassador for Fashion Week’s around the world. Mallis is the creator and host of Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis, a series of in-depth conversations with the fashion industry’s most talented, successful, and legendary personalities at the 92nd Street Y. With Mallis, these Fashion Icons drop their public personas and provide a window into the inner workings and culture of the fashion industry and their personal lives. She also authored the companion book to the series, “Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” published by Rizzoli.