New York Fashion Week Is About To Get Way More Exclusive

Fans of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week take note: The February 2014 event will be markedly different than in years past with more up-to-date venues and an amped up exclusivity level.

Over the last decade, the show has become crowded with fashion bloggers, street photographers, and others with little connection to the industry. But IMG Fashion, the company that puts together the annual show, tells The Wall Street Journal all of that is about to change.

"It was becoming a zoo," Catherine Bennett, the senior vice president and managing director at IMG Fashion Events and Properties, said to the WSJ. "What used to be a platform for established designers to debut their collections to select media and buyers has developed into a cluttered, often cost-prohibitive and exhausting period for our industry to effectively do business."

The media list will be cut by 20%, according to the WSJ, with only those considered "of value to the designers" receiving invites. The major fashion VIP guests who are welcome will also have more backstage access for interviews, and even their own private green rooms (we assume so that Anna Wintour doesn't have to wait among the hoi polloi).

Otherwise, the shows will be streamed live on the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week broadcast, so if you no longer make the cut, you can still pretend you're there.

Read more about the new updated show and venues over at The Wall Street Journal.