The electricity went out during one of the runway shows. At another, the fashion editors got stuck in a broken elevator. But the last straw was when ceiling plaster came crumbling down on both the models on the catwalk and the press in the front row at one of the New York Market Week shows in 1991. That mini disaster was what spurred Fern Mallis to create a cohesive, modern iteration of New York Fashion Week that would let the industry (safely) put its best foot forward. In this episode, host Matt Rubel sits down with Mallis, who served as Executive Director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America from 1991 to 2001, to talk about how she organized and modernized NYFW, how it changed the industry and where American fashion is headed next.

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