Public School Forgoes Fashion Week

Public School designers Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow will not be showing at New York Fashion Week, reports Business of Fashion. The brand will instead make their Fall 2018 collection available via their direct-to-consumer "concept," set to launch in spring of 2018. They have not explained what that concept will be. 

Since its opening in 2008, the New York-based brand has knocked out a continuous string of collaborations, working with Heineken back in 2012, the NFL, J.Crew, and Red Bull, to name a few. Last month, the brand released its collaboration with Soul Cycle. Despite the drop from fashion week, Public School will continue to collaborate with Nike and Alpha Industries, while remodeling its product assortment, delivery frequency and organisational structure. All appears to be in an effort to stay competitive in an ever-changing market. 

Public School solidified its status in 2013 after receiving the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Osborne and Chow have had a fast rise, becoming quick fixtures in the industry. In 2014, only two years after their own launch, the duo was named creative directors of Donna Karen International until the company was sold to LVMH in 2016. 

As more brands have begun to reevaluate the practicality of fashion week, Public School has been no excpetion. In 2016, the brand chose to combine men's and women's for both December and June shows. Just this month, the CFDA announced that it would be merging NYFW and NYFW: Men's.