We Love Fern!

by Emily White

The American Heart Association is honoring Fern Mallis with the Impact Award for her contribution to the Red Dress campaign. Spotlight sat down with the creator of NYFW.

Fern Mallis is often referred to as the “Godmother of Fashion.” After all, she’s recognized as the creator of New York Fashion Week, having previously held leadership roles at the CFDA and IMG Fashion. The living legend recalls moving into one of her first New York City apartments in the Murray Hill neighborhood where she chose a red carpet throughout the entire space. “It was a complete red box, literally,” she says. It was there that she started collecting objects and artwork that resembled hearts. “So when people came to me about doing something for heart disease, hearts were already very much a part of my visual language.”

The American Heart Association (AHA) has been dedicated to fighting heart disease (which remains the leading cause of death among women), but they can’t do it without the help of fashion powerhouses like Mallis. At this year’s Heart of the Hamptons Sand & Style Soirée on June 27th, she will be receiving the American Heart Association Impact Award for her role in the success of the Red Dress campaign. “I like having an impact,” Mallis says. “I hope I’m worthy of that accolade.”

The idea to start a campaign promoting awareness surrounding women’s heart disease came across Mallis’s desk when she was at the helm of NYFW. She worked with The Heart Truth, the team spearheading the (now) Red Dress campaign at the time, to get designers showing at the biannual New York event to contribute red gowns to be displayed in the infamous tents in Bryant Park.

On the heels of a successful campaign with then First Lady Hillary Clinton, Mallis knew that having the White House on their side would be instrumental in bringing the Red Dress campaign to fruition at NYFW. “I said to the team, ‘If we want to make this happen, we need to get Laura Bush on board,’ ” Mallis says. And they did just that, creating history on Valentine’s Day 2003 with the first Red Dress campaign.

Mallis says that she became First Lady Laura Bush’s point of contact throughout the process. “I remember getting calls from the Secret Service and the White House. She came back to the event for many years to come,” she says. Designers such as Vera Wang, Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, and many others contributed to this inaugural campaign, creating a lasting impact.

Just like NYFW, the Red Dress campaign has evolved right alongside it. “The first year, the dresses were displayed on mannequins, then the following year top IMG models adorned red dresses at a runway show, and then it became a celebrity-driven extravaganza,” Mallis says.

By 2014, the American Heart Association began collaborating with The Heart Truth for the high-profile event. “Everyone wanted to be a part of it, and every designer wanted their dress on the runway. The red dress became synonymous with heart disease. It’s been incredible watching it grow and knowing that it’s saved lives.”

Being recognized at the Heart of the Hamptons Sand & Style Soirée is an honor for Mallis as she says the East End is her happy place. “I’m looking forward to spending time out there and catching my breath,” she says. “It’s where I go and feel like my battery gets recharged.”

Besides gearing up for more stylish conversations via her popular Fashion Icons series at the 92nd Street Y, working on her third book, and starting the process of a potential film documentary, Mallis is as busy as ever. Her parting words to us: “There’s no grass growing under my feet!”