How a huge, abandoned New York City Post Office turned into Fashion Week headquarters

New York Fashion Week is associated with upscale, glamorous places like Bryant Park and Lincoln Center. But this year, the event is turning over a new leaf by centering around what used to be one of the city's most mundane structures: the Post Office.

That's right - after years of acting as the cooler, more offbeat alternative to Lincoln Center and Bryant Park, the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue and 31st Street is now officially New York Fashion Week's central hub.

That means what while the most discerning style icons in the world are shuffling in and out the back doors on their way to fashion shows, the rest of the city will be using the front of the building to mail packages.

Here's how the massive structure across the street from Penn Station went from communication hub to fashion mecca.