NY Fashion Week returns with COVID safety measures

New York Fashion Week is back, but the runways and crowded seating are not, at least not for Dreu Beckemberg.

With his trunk full of mannequins, the Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-bred designer is replacing real life models this year.

“I think that’s one of the greatest ways to help with social distancing and having less people in a room,” Beckemberg said. “Do it kind of like an installation, museum-style. I love the idea, so here we go!”

The Council of Fashion Designers of America, which organizes the Fashion Calendar and New York Fashion Week schedule, posted three steps on Instagram for the industry to utilize to ensure health and safety during the shows.

The first step says to require proof of vaccination. The second is to recommend participants wear masks. Lastly, it asks to reduce guest capacity.

Beckmerberg will have 20 looks on display and his show will have four hourly slots with 30 people coming in per hour to keep social distancing in place.

His stylist, Altorrin McIntyre, says they’re being responsible.

“We want to express ourselves,” McIntyre said. “We want to have a great time. We want to experience beauty, but we want to keep everyone safe and the less people we have the better.”

The show is on Sunday and while it won’t look the same, it’ll still feel good because, his team says, expression is needed right now to cope with everything happening in the world.