Fashion
Why Can’t New York Fashion Week Find Another Automotive Sponsor?
Once considered a top cultural sponsorship opportunity, the spot remains surprisingly vacant
September’s Spring/Summer 2016 New York Fashion Week will be the first in years to run without an automotive sponsor in its name. Mercedes-Benz, a title backer since 2009, has dropped out, the partnership fallen victim to a change in the way automobiles are marketed, and a general waning in the coolness level of the fashion event.
Once regarded a crown jewel of sponsorship opportunities because of its close affiliation with cutting-edge design, high-net-worth buyers, and trendy creativity, New York Fashion Week and its parent company, IMG, are having trouble filling the role. High-end automakers including Cadillac, among at least two others that quietly considered the opportunity, won’t touch it.