While fashion slowly
started
evolving in
the ’40s,
Eleanor’s
event
only
upped
the
ante.
So,
what
sparked
the
famed
publicist’s
blueprint
for
New
York
Fashion
Week
in
the
first
place?
Put
simply:
A
fashion
designer
who was
fed
up
with
her
work
going
unnoticed.
“Adele
Simpson came
to
[Eleanor]
and
said, ‘American
fashion
is
really
strange
because
the
garment
manufacturers
don’t
promote
the
designers,'” John
recalled
of
the
history-altering
conversation. “‘They
don’t
even
know
their
names,
and
we
need
to
be
promoted,
too.
The
French
designers
get
a
lot
of
attention,
but
we
don’t.’
It
gave [Eleanor]
an
idea.”
As
the
story
goes, Eleanor
went
into
work
mode
and
contacted
publishers
from
newspapers
across
America
and
invited
them
to
New
York
to
write
about
U.S.
designers
and
their
new
collections.
But
it
was no
small
feat. “The
publishers
sort
of
pushed
back
a
little,”
John
recalled, “and
said, ‘We
don’t
even
have
fashion
writers.'”
Eleanor’s
solution?
She
told editors
to
send
their
female
writers,
who
had
previously
been
relegated
to
cover
household
topics
such
as
cooking
and
cleaning.
After
rounding
up
the journalists, Eleanor
then
used
her
influence
as
a
fashion
powerhouse
to
spotlight
American
designers
such
as Lilly
Daché, Hattie
Carnegie, Norman
Norell and Nettie
Rosenstein (to
name
a
few).
With
writers in
tow
and
designers
ready
to
debut
their
collections,
Fashion
Press
Week
commenced.
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