OPINION: Halloween is more important than fashion week

I’ve had my Halloween costume picked out since Aug. 23. I have scoured the corners of the internet to find the exact shirt and perfect shoes for my costume. In a sense, I will be walking a runway on Oct. 31.

I didn’t even remember that New York Fashion Week happened this year. It’s supposed to be the biggest fashion event of the year with exclusive and important designs from world-renowned fashion houses. For something that is supposed to showcase a cultural moment, it isn’t very accessible. Halloween, on the other hand, is.

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Halloween is a centuries-long tradition stemming from the Celtic tradition of Samhain, a day where the barrier between the living and the dead became weak and blurred. Costumes were even worn back then in order to protect the living from being possessed by the dead spirits. In modern times, costumes became a fashion statement, from costume pageants of the 1930s to Bette Midler’s annual Halloween party.

The traditions of runway fashion and Halloween fashion are one and the same. A designer comes up with a creative outfit and fits it to a model, and then they showcase this art to the entire world in a room full of well-dressed tastemakers judging the execution of the concept. Halloween takes this idea and makes it available to every kind of person at every stage in their life. It has become vital to express yourself fully for one night a year.

Famous models are often the biggest fans of this holiday season – look at Heidi Klum’s dedication to extravagant costuming or Emily Ratajkowski’s perfect execution of Marge Simpson. Obviously, these people have insane amounts of money to spend on intricate costumes, but it stems from a love of dressing up. Halloween is the holiday for fashion. It’s the one opportunity to show off your creativity and niche interests.

There are even whole designer collections dedicated to a love of Halloween. Just look at Moschino’s Resort collection from 2020, The Blonds’ Disney Villains showcase or Martine SItbon’s spring-summer 1993 collection with Kate Moss as a sexy witch. These shows are just the tip of the iceberg. The love of Halloween goes hand in hand with a love for fashion, just as most fashionistas froth at the mouth while thinking of Halloween.

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It’s hard to follow fashion week without subscriptions to Vogue Runway or Elle or one of the countless other fashion magazines. Halloween trends, however, are much easier to find. YouTubers thrive off of Halloween costume content, predicting trends for the year and offering advice for one-of-a-kind costumes. Runway knowledge comes with a premium, while there are unlimited amounts of videos and articles for free that highlight the importance of Halloween.

I have never been more excited for Halloween in my life. My costumes might be a bit uninspired, but I know that they will turn heads. Fashion fuels my love for Halloween. I’m making sure my outfit has enough pockets for candy.

Char Jones (they/her) is a sophomore studying English and journalism.