Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Photo: Patrick McMullan

Some of you may have experienced New York Fashion Week from the comfort of your couch or perhaps snagged a chance to help backstage, but you will never experience the fashion world’s most celebrated weeks of the year like this. The New York Fashion Week documentary, ‘The Tents,’ provides a full 360-view of the glamorous and not-so glamorous the fashion industry can be. While the documentary covers the creation of Fashion Week by the CFDA back in 1993, to the new IMG ownership, and to present day, it also reveals behind-the-scenes footage from fashion pioneers, designers, and prominent figures in the fashion industry—not to mention, hilarious commentary from fashion stylist and personality Robert Verdi, to the queen of simplicity and comfort, American designer Donna Karan.

Fern Mallis, Photo: Retna

“Looking at the success of recent fashion documentaries such as, ‘The September Issue’ and ‘Valentino: The Last Emperor,’ there is clearly a burgeoning interest in behind-the-scene stories about the fashion industry,” says ‘The Tents’ director James Belzer. In New York City, we have an avenue ardently labeled “Fashion District.” So imagine the shocker when the film reveals that New York was relatively unknown in the fashion world. But New York Fashion Week president Fern Mallis changed that misconception for the world to see. The long-time NY Fashion Week location Bryant Park (the heart of the Fashion District) set tears in many eyes when it was announced in early 2010 Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side would be the new location for the event. If you’re in town and planning to watch this doc, then suit up—there will be fashionistas and fashionistos everywhere, maybe even some with cameras—and familiarize yourself with the fashion industry jargon. Know fashion power players like Fern Mallis, Suzy Menkes, Nina Garcia, and fashion terms like “haute couture,” “S/S” for “Spring/Summer,” and “A/W” for “Autumn/Winter” collections. There will be a wider release of the documentary this September, but you can buy your tickets to the preview of ‘The Tents’ at the SVA Theatre here for $14. Hope to see you there tomorrow!