Georgina Chapman’s fashion label Marchesa has allegedly canceled its New York Fashion Week catwalk show, just six weeks after announcing what was hoped to be a triumphant comeback, amid claims Harvey Weinstein’s wife is ‘too scared’ to go through with the event.
Instead, sources told the New York Post that the high-end label will hold a ‘digital presentation’, meaning Chapman, 41, who has been in hiding since the numerous sexual abuse allegations were made against Weinstein, and her business partner Keren Craig can avoid the public spectacle and scrutiny that would likely surround their show.
‘Georgina couldn’t go through with it, she was too scared,’ an NYFW source told The Post of her decision to cancel the event, adding: ‘They were gung-ho . . . but as they got closer, she choked.’
Comeback kids no more: Georgina Chapman (right) and her partner Keren Craig (left) have reportedly canceled Marchesa’s New York Fashion Week Fall 18 show
Controversy: The show was set to be the first major event for the brand since numerous allegations of sexual abuse were made against Chapman’s husband Harvey Weinstein
The source also added that the brand’s CEO – Chapman’s brother, Edward – has struggled to know the best course of action in terms of dealing with the very public fallout from Weinstein’s fall from grace, particularly given how closely the Marchesa brand name was involved.
‘[He] doesn’t really have the cops to navigate a boat that’s in that type of water,’ the NYFW insider explained.
Currently, Marchesa is not listed on the CFDA’s official New York Fashion Week calendar, however Fashion Week Online lists the brand has holding some kind of event on February 14 at 4pm, with little other information currently being offered.
A spokesperson for the brand told DailyMail.com that Marchesa will ‘present its Fall 18 collection’ however noted that it would be in an ‘updated format’.
The news comes just weeks after Chapman and her partner Craig quietly released 38 lookbook photos of their Marchesa and Marchesa Notte pre-fall 2018 collections this week amid reports that Chapman and Weinstein have reached a multi-million dollar divorce settlement.
Although the move seemed to indicate that the brand was back in business after something of an unofficial hiatus, Women’s Wear Daily reported that Marchesa didn’t hold press appointments for either collection like fashion labels traditionally do.
Marchesa described its latest collection as a visit to a ‘nocturnal garden party, boasting dramatic silhouettes and colors,’ while Notte was inspired by the ‘vibrant, tropical fantasy that was the kingdom of Hawaii and their last crown princess, Ka’iulani.’
Can it survive? Earlier this month, Chapman, 41, and Craig, also 41, quietly released a series of 38 images of their Marchesa and Marchesa Notte collections online
Late night: Along with the images, Marchesa described its latest collection as a visit to a ‘nocturnal garden party, boasting dramatic silhouettes and colors’
Paradise: The designers’ latest Marchesa Notte collection was inspired by the ‘vibrant, tropical fantasy that was the kingdom of Hawaii and their last crown princess, Ka’iulani’
Holding back: Although Chapman appeared at the time to be back to work, the brand didn’t hold press appointments for Marchesa and Marchesa Notte like fashion labels traditionally do
The label released photos of the collection on Instagram this week, and the whimsical designs attracted positive comments from fans. Although some have argued that Chapman is complicit in her estranged husband’s actions, the posts appear to be suspiciously free negative commentary.
Shorty after the first allegations against Weinstein emerged in October, Chapman announced that she had left the disgraced movie mogul who funded her company and reportedly bullied A-list actresses into wearing her designs on the red carpet.
It’s unclear how much money Chapman will get in the divorce, but reports suggest they have reached a settlement and she will get custody of their two children.
The prenuptial agreement she signed would reportedly pay her out between $15 and $20 million after 10 years of marriage, in addition to the child support she stands to receive for their seven-year-old daughter India and four-year-old son Dashiell.
Although Chapman and Craig are continuing with the label, it is difficult to predict how much support Marchesa will receive in the upcoming months.
After the scandal broke three months ago, WWD asked retailers whether they would continue to support Marchesa. While several bridal stores and major retailers said they would, only Linda Fargo from Bergdorf Goodman was willing to go on record to say that she hopes to continue support for the label in the future.
If the red carpet at this year’s Golden Globes is any indication, the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein may have ruined Chapman’s fashion label for good.
The end of an era: Not a single A-lister at this year’s Golden Globes wore Marchesa. Chapman is pictured at last year’s ceremony
A former favorite: Marchesa’s designs have previously been one of award season’s most sought-after, with the likes of Chrissy Teigen happily wearing one of her gowns last year
For the first time in years, Chapman’s high-end brand is thought to have failed to make an appearance at the star-studded event, with not one single A-list star on the red carpet choosing to wear one of her designs – a telling sign of what may be to come for her and her business.
It no doubt came as a bitter – but likely unsurprising – blow for the entrepreneur, who has enjoyed over a decade as one of award season’s most coveted designers, with dozens of stars happily modeling her intricate dresses on the red carpets of events likes the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, and the Oscars.
At last year’s Globes alone, Marchesa dressed the likes of Chrissy Teigen and Heidi Klum – while Georgina also walked the red carpet in one of her own designs.
The year before, Zendaya, Viola Davis and Lily James all wore her dresses.
However, with this year’s Golden Globes focusing heavily on the newly-launched initiative Time’s Up, a movement supported by 300 women in entertainment that hopes to eradicate harassment, abuse, and gender inequality in the workplace, it seems that Marchesa no longer has a place in the spotlight.
The 75th annual award ceremony saw almost every single female attendee wearing an all-black look as a show of solidarity for the Time’s Up movement – and the hundreds of thousands of women around the world who have been abused, harassed, or faced gender discrimination at some point in their lives.
And while the sartorial statement drew both support and criticism from around the globe, it seems everyone was united in the decision to avoid Marchesa – which was actually funded by Weinstein. He is said to have contributed to its success by allegedly bullying the stars of his movies into wearing his wife’s designs.
A change: Heidi Klum also wore a Marchesa design in 2017 (left) – but this year she joined the Time’s Up movement in an all-black dress by Ashi Studio (right)
Moving on: Viola Davis chose a Marchesa design for her Golden Globes carpet look in 2016 (left), but this year made a statement in an all-black Brandon Maxwell number (right)
Heidi, Viola, and Lily all took part in the sartorial protest, with all three women wearing black dresses on the carpet – none of which were Marchesa.
Now that the allegations against Weinstein – and the alleged role he played in Marchesa’s success – have been made so public, it appears nobody in Hollywood is willing to go near the label.
As the allegations against Weinstein have mounted, people have taken to social media to call for a boycott of Marcehsa, and fashion insiders say that nobody will want to wear the brand again as it’s been tainted by the scandal.
An unnamed stylist told Us Weekly that their company has forbidden employees from dressing their clients in Marchesa for the time being.
Such is the stigma attached to it that outspoken activist and Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan used the threat of wearing the label’s dresses as a slur against actresses who spoke out about their plans to wear all black to this year’s awards shows as part of a silent protest.
‘Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest,’ she wrote in a tweet that was posted and then deleted back in December.
‘YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.’
Marchesa was founded in 2004, the same year Chapman and Weinstein met; it was funded by the multi-millionaire movie mogul and enjoyed instant success, thanks to a handful of actresses who boosted its profile by wearing some of its earliest gowns to premieres and events.
No more: Lily James also wore Marchesa at the 2016 ceremony (left), but she chose a different label for the Time’s Up-focused carpet, wearing Valentino Haute Couture instead (right)
That was then: Singer and actress Zendaya, who did not attend this year’s ceremony, wore Marchesa at the Golden Globes in 2016
Victimized? Nicole Kidman is one of many stars of Weinstein films who’ve worn Marchesa on the red carpet, including at the Directors Guild of America Awards last year (left). She wore a black Givenchy design at this year’s Golden Globes (right)
In October, Felicity Huffman confirmed that Weinstein threatened to pull publicity funding for her 2005 film Transamerica if she didn’t wear his wife’s gowns on the red carpet.
Amid mounting allegations of Weinstein’s sexual harassment and sexual assault, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that he threatened to sabotage the careers of A-list stars, including Huffman’s, if they didn’t wear Marchesa.
‘Yeah, it’s true,’ Huffman, who has been married to fellow actor William H. Macy for 20 years, told TooFab at the Eva Longoria Foundation Gala in Los Angeles.
The actress obliged Weinstein’s demands by wearing a flowing white Marchesa gown for her high-profile appearance at the Golden Globes where she was nominated for both her film and her role on Desperate Housewives.
Huffman, who took home a Golden Globe for Transamerica, also wore a black, strapless Marchesa gown to the New York screening of the film that year.
Even before the scandal over rape and sexual harassment allegations broke, Chapman faced the accusations that the label was only successful thanks to her husband’s Hollywood connections.
‘He was the mastermind behind Marchesa — orchestrating deals and using his influence in terms of the celebrity connections for her on behalf of the brand,’ one Los Angeles publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.
The publicist noted that Weinstein and Chapman had an understanding that ‘they both benefited from the relationship,’ adding that ‘she certainly knew about his bad behavior.’
Another publicist recalled that Sienna Miller was told Harvey ‘would be very upset if she didn’t wear Marchesa’ when invited to sit at Harvey’s table at the Golden Globes in 2007 after starring in the Weinstein-produced Factory Girl.