No one can predict if Mickey Rourke will attend, if the Federal Trade Commission will become interested in male models' fees or if Kate Moss might be in the front row if Johnny Depp walks the runway. But the Council of Fashion Designers of America is hoping that tabloids, talk shows and cable television will find as much to say about menswear in New York as they did about the recent women's collection.
Tents, which got much of the credit for the success of the women's shows, will not be used for the men's. Instead, for the men's shows, to be held Feb. 5-8, the council lined up four locations in video and film production studios that were described as "distinctively masculine."So far, 20 designers have signed up for the venues, which range in price from $24,000 for 590 seats at the Sony Music Studios to $3,900 for 170 seats at the New York Prop Gallery, both in the west 50s.
The shows will open with Wolfgang Joop's Joop! collection. Other labels on the schedule: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Richard Tyler, John Bartlett, Tommy Hilfiger, Joseph Abboud, New Republic, Hugo Boss, Robert Massimo Freda and Todd Killian.
"It's long overdue," said Jon Weiser, the president of Charivari, who will show Artifact, the line he designs.