Fern Mallis - Godmother of New York Fashion Week

Fern Mallis has been called many things including an industry titan, a living legend, a trailblazer, a global fashion ambassador, a visionary, a maverick, a fashion revolutionary, an icon, an indomitable force and an industry gamechanger. She’s selfless and fearless, she’s fashion’s ultimate insider and she’s widely recognized as the godmother of New York Fashion Week. Her career spans six decades and intersects with some of the world’s most recognized names.

She was born in 1948 in Brooklyn, and she became a sensation in the fashion industry shortly after she was hired as the executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). She held the position for 10 years, from 1991 to 2001. The CFDA is the US’s governing body of fashion designers and runway shows.

Fern’s massive claim to fame while serving at the CFDA was launching New York Fashion Week, which was initially called “7th on Sixth” productions. At the time, there were fashion weeks strictly in Paris, London and Milan. The fashion week event she created was staged in NY twice a year, in Feb. & Sept., and it was located in tents within Bryant Park. In 2010, the event was moved to Lincoln Center.

Fern has told a story about how it became an urgent matter to create an organized fashion week after a Michael Kors show went very poorly in a loft space in Chelsea with plaster falling off the ceiling from the bass vibrations when music played. The plaster chunks landed on runway models and audience members, which made it abundantly clear that it was time for a change. And Fern suddenly had a new job description, requiring a massive undertaking to find a new approach.

First, she tried using a hotel to see if two designers would show in the same space, and when that worked, she made a deal with Bryant Park, right after it had been renovated, to start “7^th on Six^th” in 3 different tents.

She describes the event as a fashion mecca, using words like electric and a magical time. She also refers to it as the Ellis Island of fashion because she was open to introducing up- and-coming design talent.

While she was in charge, she changed the CFDA’s original charter to promote American fashion as a - quote - recognized branch of American art and culture – unquote. While designers had shown collections in New York for decades, it was Fern who centralized and professionalized the shows in Bryant Park for nearly two decades. Her leadership brought cohesion, international media attention, corporate sponsorships and global structure to what had been a scattered series of individual designer showings. She ultimately helped elevate American designers to the world stage, on par with Paris, Milan and London.

While at the CFDA, Fern organized 10 annual CFDA Fashion Awards Galas. She also played a leadership role in starting the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign which has generated well over $100 million in donations for hundreds of breast cancer organizations worldwide. She also twice organized the “7th on Sale” fundraiser for AIDS charities which grossed more than $8 million. Additionally, she helped raise considerable money for design scholarships and numerous other initiatives to benefit designers and the industry at large.

In 2001, she was hired as the senior vice president of IMG Fashion, a division within IMG, which is a sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in NYC. Between 2001 and 2010, she continued to handle fashion week since IMG had acquired it. She became a true fashion ambassador, traveling around the world to fashion shows and competitions. Under her guidance, IMG added new fashion weeks around the world in cities like Melbourne, Sidney, Moscow, Mumbai, Toronto, Mexico City and Berlin, among others.

In 2010, she parted ways with IMG and shifted gears to became president of Fern Mallis LLC, her own international fashion and design consultancy. She formed it to advise, consult and create, working with international and domestic fashion, lifestyle and design companies on branding, image, creative business strategies and event production

Going back to the early days, Fern was raised in Mill Basin, which is located in South Brooklyn, long before it was cool, as she recalls it. Her father worked in the garment district where he was a salesman for women’s scarves and accessories, so she learned a lot about the business from him, as well as how to tie a scarf 1,000 different ways, she says. He would bring home copies of Women’s Wear Daily, so she read that voraciously.

She says she loved going into the city and seeing the energy in the garment district, in the days before everything was manufactured overseas. She’d see rolling racks being loaded onto trucks, back when it was a real community and everybody knew each other on the streets. She says she learned a lot without even trying.

From the beginning, fashion was clearly a big part of her life. After high school, she thought about going to Parsons or FIT, but her dad said no, preferring that she receive a liberal arts education. He told her fashion was in her blood and she could get involved later in life. So she attended SUNY Buffalo where she studied communication, design and graphics, all of which seemed more marketable.

In her senior year of college, Fern entered a guest editing competition at Mademoiselle magazine, and she was selected as one of 20 winners. She needed to skip graduation to continue working at the monthly magazine, and when her term there ended, she got a Eurail pass and traveled around Europe. When she returned, her mom told her that the magazine had been calling, and they had a job for her. She was the only one from the group of 20 who was offered a full-time position. She worked there for 6 years in events, merchandising and marketing. This position afforded her the opportunity to visit every major department store in the US where she put on events and shows and brought the magazine to life.

Next, she got a job as a fashion director at Gimbels East, a big department store with several locations, one of which was on the Upper East Side. She met with designers, worked with the buyers and attended small, very exclusive fashion shows. After several years there, she opened up a small public relations agency, Fern Mallis Public Relations.

Fern is widely quoted in fashion news outlets, and she has been featured on TV programs including America's Next Top Model, She's Got the Look, and four seasons of Project Runway. She also was the weekly judge on Bravo's first season of The Fashion Show with Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland. In addition, she was a consulting producer for The Fashion Show and for CW's reality television series ReModeled.

She has regularly been in the public eye for the past 15 years for hosting a premiere, consistently sold-out conversation series at the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York. Entitled Fashion Icons With Fern Mallis, it features in-depth interviews with an incredible collection of guests. It’s the longest running series at the 92^nd St. Y and she’s conducted more than 60 interviews. The guest list is lengthy, but to name a few, there was Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Diane von Fürstenberg, Polly Mellen, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, André Leon Talley, Bruce Weber, Bill Cunningham – her admitted favorite from this 1^st season, Valentino, Leonard A. Lauder, Tim Gunn, Victoria Beckham, Rosita and Angela Missoni, Alexander Wang, Betsey Johnson and Christian Louboutin.

She also is the author of two companion books of the series, published by Rizzoli USA. In 2015, the highly praised coffee table style book “Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” was released featuring 19 of her 92^nd St. Y interviews, along with never-before-seen images detailing family histories and behind the scenes looks at the lives of her stage guests. A third edition is on the way.

In the past, she also hosted Fashion Insiders With Fern Mallis on Sirius XM's celebrity talk channel STARS.

In 2012, she made her theatre stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of Nora and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore. In February 2012, she launched a jewelry line called FERN FINDS.

The list of industry awards and accolades recognizing her outstanding contributions to fashion is considerable. To name a few, she was honored in 2012 by the Pratt Institute with its Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to her by Calvin Klein. In 2013, she was celebrated with the rare and highly esteemed Fashion Institute of Technology’s President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She also delivered the keynote commencement address. She’s been featured in the “Business of Fashion 500”: The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry, and in 2014, she was inducted into the first BoF 500’s Hall of Fame.

In 2024, she received the Fashion Legacy Award from the Fashion Chamber of Commerce, the Founders Award from Fashion Group International, the ACE Hall of Fame Award, and the Making the Difference Award from Giving Glam. In 2022, she was recognized with the Icon of Innovation Award by Fashion Group International.

More recently, she earned the 2025 Impact Award from the American Heart Association for her work creating the Red Dress Initiative.

And earlier this year, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by DIFFA, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS organization. As a founding board member, she helped steer the organization during its earliest years, when the AIDS crisis demanded swift action from New York’s creative community. Her continued involvement has supported DIFFA’s expansion into programs addressing housing insecurity, food access and mental health services.  

Fern is the latest inductee into Kent State University’s School of Fashion's Hall of Fame to recognize her transformative impact on the American fashion industry and her enduring role in shaping New York Fashion Week. She truly changed the trajectory of the fashion industry. She also was chosen to recognize her tireless advocacy for emerging talent. Her impact has really been immeasurable.

The Kent State School of Fashion’s Hall of Fame honors individuals whose contributions have shaped the industry and inspired future generations of designers, entrepreneurs and creative leaders. She joins other industry figures who have been inducted including Kenneth Cole, Estée Lauder, Oscar de la Rena, Dana Buchman, Leonardo Ferragamo, Josie Natori, Dame Zandra Rhodes and Donald J. Pliner.

Something else that’s highly noteworthy…Fern’s generous spirit has extended itself most recently to a giant talent in a tiny frame. She has taken 10-year-old fashion prodigy Max Alexander under her wing as his mentor and "fashion godmother." Max is known for creating couture designs from a very young age and he has gained massive attention for his talent. A few years ago, they collaborated on a limited-edition "Fern to the Max" caftan collection and they have appeared together at major industry events, including Paris Fashion Week. Fern has introduced him to many industry leaders, and she supports his runway shows. In recognition of her pivotal support, Max dedicated his March 2026 Paris Fashion Week show to Fern.

Just a few final little Fern facts: she has said that her favorite fashion item is her Bulgari watch which was gifted to her on her 50^th birthday by her youngest sister who has since passed away, and Fern says she has worn it every day since then. She says she’s not an “it” bag person, and she won’t carry heavy bags, especially because both of her shoulders have been replaced.  

More about Fern will be revealed in an upcoming 90-minute documentary film titled, “The Godmother of Fashion.”