IMG’s Dominic Kaffka on the ‘festivalization’ of NYFW

In his 13 years working on the events production side of IMG, Dominic Kaffka -- now svp of IMG Fashion Events -- has not only had an insider’s view of New York Fashion Week’s ongoing transformation, but he’s also had a hand in steering its course.  For example, he spent the past two show seasons fueling the event’s digital acceleration by ensuring the show went on, so to speak, without physical shows. In September 2020 and February 2021, the bi-annual event was largely carried out virtually, due to the pandemic. “We had 20-25 guests [per show] -- but for us, it was really important to not miss a full New York Fashion Week,” Kaffka said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “Most of our clients who chose not to do a live fashion show with guests came up with much more creative ways to present their collections. A lot of designers did lookbook shoots, a lot of designers produced very elevated fashion films on a cinematic level -- their budgets shifted from putting on a big show to putting on a big digital content production.”  But now, he said, “People are shifting their budgets, their intentions and their planning back to live events.”  Ahead of New York Fashion Week, which kicked off on Wednesday, Kaffka discussed how designers will strike a physical-digital balance this season and to what extent the event will be democratized moving forward.