New York Fashion Week extends to 10 days in February

New York Fashion Week will morph into a 10-day style fest next February, with a men's event being tagged onto the front of the flagship women's shows, organizers confirmed Wednesday.

Men's fashion week will "abut the women's schedule" in a bid to streamline the international fashion schedule, the Council of Fashion Designers of America said.

Men's shows will take place February 5-7, followed by women's and co-ed shows in the customary week-long slot from February 8-14, it said. The change comes as a growing number of brands merge men's and women's collections on the runway.

The fashion media suggested that the calendar switch could help menswear get more attention if editors, buyers and influencers jet into the Big Apple a bit earlier. After New York, the international fashion pack decamps to London, Milan and Paris.

But the New York schedule shift may also be an experiment. The CFDA said the following season's men's fashion week would take place July 9-12 2018 with the women's event scheduled for September 6-12. Last season's fashion week in September suffered from lackluster reviews and saw a spate of up-and-coming US creative talent decamp to Europe. (AFP)