How a brand gets onto the New York Fashion Week schedule, and what a show costs

New York Fashion Week is run to a calendar, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) manages the official version of it. Its Fashion Calendar team invites designers to apply for a place on the schedule, as it did for the September 2026 season.

The schedule is only the first step. A show itself is where the money goes, and the sources quoted here describe budgets that often create significant financial pressure for young and independent brands. This article sets out how the schedule application works, what shows cost according to the designers and trade press quoted, and what brands do instead.

How the official schedule application works

For the September 2026 season, the CFDA posted its call for applications on April 15, 2026. The window was set to close on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, which gave designers about five weeks to apply.

New York Fashion Week itself was scheduled to run from Thursday, September 10 through Tuesday, September 15, 2026. That puts the deadline a little under four months before the week begins.

Applications are made through a link in the CFDA's notice. The CFDA's notice encourages designers to submit early, and questions go to the CFDA Fashion Calendar team at fc@cfda.com.

The notice does not set out eligibility rules, fees or selection criteria.

The CFDA Fashion Calendar also keeps a separate Important Dates page listing the key domestic and international market week dates.

How new and returning designers have applied

The CFDA's May 2019 notice shows how the process was structured that year. New designers applied to request a timeslot on the official schedule for that September. Returning designers who had shown on the previous February schedule were told to contact a named CFDA staff member for their application link.

In that cycle, the window closed on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. The CFDA said each submission would be reviewed and that applicants would be notified of their status individually in July.

The same notice referred to a recent CFDA announcement of a change to the format. From September 2019, New York Fashion Week: Women's moved to a five-day, five-night schedule, running from Friday, September 6 through Wednesday, September 11.

The 2026 notice does not describe separate routes for new and returning designers. It carries the dates, the application link and the contact address.

What designers say a show costs

Cost figures come from designers and trade press, not from the CFDA, and they vary widely. Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada told Glossy in February 2024 that $400,000 is the average cost of putting on a runway show.

In London, FashionUnited gives a separate figure. FashionUnited reported that independent designers producing a show outside the London Fashion Week show space, without outside financing, need a minimum of £50,000 to £100,000.

The costs FashionUnited lists are venue hire, production, models, and hair and makeup teams, along with what it calls myriad other expenses. It adds that the British Fashion Council's data does not include an average cost of staging a runway show at London Fashion Week.

These numbers describe different cities and different kinds of brands, so they are not a like-for-like range. At the top of the market, FashionUnited notes that established houses often absorb show costs in large marketing budgets, and that Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger have invested millions in elaborate productions.

Taymour named three things that push a bill up: lacking experienced industry staff or a guide to plan the show, outsourcing pattern-making when a brand cannot make its own patterns, and spending heavily on a single editorial piece that may not sell.

Glossy also notes that designers Willy Chavarria and Jackson Wiederhoeft have disclosed collection and show costs to The Cut.

Why brands pay for a show anyway

The British Fashion Council has long argued that designers who show at London Fashion Week see more stockists and more press coverage.

The case is not accepted everywhere. FashionUnited reports that many young designers cite financial constraints as the main obstacle to showing during fashion week. It says an established business, or a designer who may have had a challenging season, would find it more challenging to participate under current norms. It also notes that during the pandemic, many designers questioned the return on investment of extravagant presentations.

Taymour is among those who argue a show suits only some brands. She told Glossy that a show that only displays clothes is not worth doing, and that brands without a strong, impactful concept are better off skipping one. She estimated that half of the brands at New York Fashion Week would not show if they did not feel pressure to for exposure. She said she herself simply loves to show.

She also described how the business side works for Collina Strada. Trousers and jewelry are its main sales drivers, and the brand added four pant styles and 20 jewelry styles to the show. Glossy reports that its direct sales channel has grown consistently year over year, and Taymour said e-commerce is offsetting conservative buys from bigger stores.

What brands do when a runway show is out of reach

FashionUnited lists the alternatives: digital showcases, intimate salon-style presentations, collaborative group shows, virtual presentations, lookbooks and direct-to-consumer marketing. It describes virtual presentations, look books and direct-to-consumer marketing as more cost-effective options that can, in some cases, offer greater reach and engagement than traditional runway shows. It adds that established brands are also choosing salon-style presentations or off-schedule shows.

For emerging designers in London, FashionUnited names Fashion East among the platforms that cater to emerging brands. It mentions funding opportunities but names no others.

Production choices also change the bill. Retrofête, whose CEO Aviad Klin spoke to Glossy in February 2024, showed its second New York runway collection that season, focused on outerwear with eight coats. Its first NYFW show was in an earlier September. For the second, the brand used a different production company and the stylist Alex White.

Klin said the show circuit has boosted the brand's credibility, brought more calls from stylists and supported a higher price point introduced a few years ago. Retrofête styles retail from $150 to over $1,000, and its retailers include Bergdorf Goodman, Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.

Taymour also predicted that students and designers may move shows to Paris or Milan. She said New York lacks big fashion houses to support young talent, and that some promising designers have to take desk jobs at large conglomerates because they are not being supported.