The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) unveiled the preliminary schedule for New York Fashion Week: Women’s in September. This season the Official Schedule includes several newsworthy additions and changes. And, announced are a series of events you should keep an eye out for.

Among the noteworthy Official Schedule changes is Tom Ford, who is holding an intimate presentation in New York on Sept. 7, and Thakoon, who is returning to NYFW: Women’s with a show on Sept.8.  Also new to the Official Schedule is the Sies Marjan label, as well as Akris, the St. Gallen, Switzerland brand which is moving its show from Paris to New York for this season only.

DKNY, designed by Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, is assuming the Public School timeslot at 11 am on Sunday, Sept.11, while Diane von Furstenberg will be holding private appointments all day on Sept.11 in addition to her formal runway date.

Raf Simon’s creative director appointment at Calvin Klein is expected to be a major draw on the Official Schedule, date TBD. And last but not least, Oscar de la Renta is now scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12.

Another exciting development at New York Fashion Week is the ongoing commitment by the CFDA for designer inclusion on the Official Schedule. Since CFDA acquired the Fashion Calendar in 2014 there has been a significant amount of change, and the results can be seen in the Official Schedule. Last year, there were 192 designers approved, and this year’s schedule features 119 shows and presentations so far.

The CFDA inclusion strategy has spawned incredible opportunities for new talents, most popular is V-Files which offers three runway time slots to selected designers from around the world. In addition to a show on the Official Calendar, V-Files sources a new team of mentors to consult with designers, models, photographers, make-up artists and hair stylists that are crowdsourced from their site.

This year supermodel Naomi Campbell, Rihanna’s stylist Mel Ottenburg, rapper Young Thug, world renowned make-up artist Pat McGrath and Fear of God’s creative director Jerry Lorenzo have been selected as mentors for a televised show scheduled to air September 7.

Also newsworthy- this season marks the 15^th anniversary of the Sept.11 attacks. New York Fashion Week and Sept. 11 are inextricably linked, and the CFDA is working with the City and the CFDA membership to find appropriate ways to mark the anniversary.

For New York Fashion Week: Women’s The Fashion Plate Magazine will be there to capture it all including the season’s new silhouettes, trends, and themes along with the best and the rising star designers in New York fashion.

So stay tuned!