It was genuinely a joy to see many of the New York fashion gang together again. There was a time in the dark days of Covid when you wondered, will I ever see these people again? Will there ever be another fashion show where we come together for this shared experience? Fashion shows can feel like a Happening, when performers assemble in an ordinary place, do their thing and then disperse, as if they were never there at all. And yes, I am including the photographers, the models, the security guys, the PR people, the selfie seekers, the crashers and every single person who walks by and asks, “What’s going on here?” not just the guests. So it felt particularly empty when this whole cast of fashion show players dispersed in March of 2020, possibly for good.

Marc Jacobs made an impassioned case on Instagram for having live fashion shows with people in attendance and emphasized “the physicality of shared experience.” It turns out that we, the audience and the consumer, are actually part of his creative process, as if something is not really “finished” unless someone is there to see it.

We were there. It happened. Let’s hope it keeps happening, for him and many other designers.