Hudson Yards Has Eye on New York Fashion Week

Hudson Yards is pushing hard to be the next home for fashion week with Diane von Furstenberg and the Council of Fashion Designers of America as its support.

"In all likelihood, fashion week will come to Hudson Yards. It needs a permanent home," said Jay Cross, president of Hudson Yards.

"I am super excited about the Culture Shed," von Furstenberg, chairman of the CFDA, said Wednesday, in reference to the new multipurpose center to be built at Hudson Yards. "It will be a huge cultural center, and yes, a wonderful place for fashion week."

Cross and other officials of Related Companies, which is developing Hudson Yards, said "the Culture Shed component of Hudson Yards is being created with four runways, studios, exhibition space and a dramatic 140-foot-high canopy that slides along tracks to create indoor and outdoor space."

The Culture Shed is being designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group and it will be located on West 30th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. Renderings revealed an airy, soaring structure made of steel and glass, comprising 198,000 square feet of space and five floors. "As Culture Shed expands and contracts, it will work in many configurations, welcoming multiple events simultaneously and serving diverse artists and audiences from across New York City and beyond," said a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Liz Diller and David Rockwell have designed "an amazing place that becomes smaller and larger, according to the needs," said von Furstenberg. "Our family foundation has made a financial commitment to Culture Shed, and I am proud to sit on its board," she added, noting that most of the money for the Culture Shed, which is seen being operational in 2017, has already been raised.

Steven Kolb, chief executive officer of the CFDA, said that Hudson Yards has involved the CFDA in the design of the Culture Shed, with the "ultimate result of it being a potential home for fashion week." He said he's met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has also been supportive of relocating fashion week to Hudson Yards, and other city officials. Kolb said for the Culture Shed to be viable for fashion week it would require backstage facilities, large check-in areas and a lot of space that's flexible for different purposes. "Our interest is not in being producers of fashion week, but that the infrastructure complements the needs of the designers," said Kolb, noting that Culture Shed is not for profit.

Hudson Yards will also include a 750,000-square-foot retail center hoping to draw luxury brands, contemporary brands and fast-fashion retailers. Hudson Yards also includes a public square and office towers. So far, Coach, L'Oréal USA and SAP will occupy space in the South Towers.