The Runway Wasn't Born Glamorous — It Was Born Clever

Before fashion shows, new dresses were modeled by wooden dolls. Then Charles Frederick Worth put his gowns on a living, walking woman — his wife Marie, the first fashion model. Lucile made it theater (a stage, music, tea, gowns with names), New York stores joined in by 1903, and when WWII cut Paris off, Eleanor Lambert invented Press Week in 1943. It became New York Fashion Week. The runway wasn't born glamorous, it was born clever. 💃