The keeper of New York’s Fashion Calendar, Ruth Finley, is handing over her scheduling prowess to the CFDA. The acquisition takes effect on October 1st. This past September, the CFDA and the Fashion Calendar aligned forces to debut NYFWList, an app that aimed to streamline the scheduling of fashion week. The latest pairing is an even more promising means of quelling the current calendar chaos. Founded 65 years ago, the Fashion Calendar has been the go-to listing location for all fashion shows and events, based mostly in New York, with a few international listings in the mix. The subscription-only service has also attempted to thoroughly track the scheduling of New York Fashion Week, which features over 350 events during the course of a single season. So, what does this mean for September’s upcoming Fashion Week? Finley, the Calendar’s founder and president, will remain in charge of all scheduling for the Spring 2015 collections, but as soon as the purchase goes into effect, she will shift to a consultant and adviser position. Additionally, Mary Hackley, the current senior editor at the Calendar with a dozen years at the org under her belt, will now become part of the CFDA staff.
And the CFDA has a number of improvements they plan to implement in the near future, including modernizing the Calendar digitally, streamlining pre-collection scheduling, and offering up more resources to the staff. “The CFDA’s acquisition of the Fashion Calendar fits perfectly within the CFDA’s mission, which is to strengthen the influence and success of American Fashion Designers in the global economy. The Fashion Calendar is a vital function of the American Fashion Industry, and one that the CFDA will work hard to improve and expand,” the CFDA’s CEO, Steven Kolb, said in a statement. But the two parties involved in the merger aren’t the only ones that are supportive of this change; both IMG and MADE Fashion Week expressed their endorsement of the new partnership. “Ruth Finley’s Fashion Calendar has been an incredible ally to the American fashion industry for many years,” Catherine Bennett, SVP and managing director at IMG, said in a statement. “This is a great asset for IMG Fashion and the other New York Fashion Week constituencies as it will increase ease and create improved organization for all fashion week guests.”