New York Fashion Week's New Name?

New York Fashion Week could be getting a new moniker if, as rumours suggest, it is about to cut ties with its headline sponsor. The event, officially known as "Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York", is reportedly talking with new sponsors as it plans a revamp in the coming months.

The week moved from Bryant Park, its home since 1994, to Lincoln Centre in 2010 - and has suffered from something of a crisis of confidence ever since. Headlines have proclaimed it too accessible and not innovative enough and, as a result, IMG - which produces the event - is reportedly planning to move it to another venue.

New York Fashion Week

The new site, unconfirmed but thought to be in Downtown Manhattan, is hoped to lend the showcase some much-needed kudos: "The general consensus is that it's just not cool to show at Lincoln Center," one longtime insider said, The Cut reports. Many of the city's top designers show off-schedule - and at NYFW in September, a top Hollywood publicist was overheard saying, "I would only let my actresses go to London or Paris shows. New York's just not as important or A-list." Meanwhile however, others suggest that the announcement could just be part of a negotiation tactic ahead of the venue changes: "Mercedes may walk," a highly placed individual in New York fashion told the Hollywood Reporter. "But I doubt it."

"Mercedes-Benz is a valued global partner of ours across fashion, sports and several WME-IMG properties, including Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, where they remain our title sponsor," IMG asserted today.