The first New York Fashion Week (which was then called "Press Week") was the world's first ever organized fashion week. First held in 1943, the event was designed to attract attention away from the French fashion during World War II, when fashion industry insiders were unable to travel to Paris to see French fashion shows. Fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert organized an event she called "Press Week" to showcase American designers for fashion journalists, who had previously neglected their innovations. (Buyers were not admitted to the shows, and instead had to visit designers' showrooms.) Press Week was a success, and fashion magazines like Vogue, which were normally filled with French designs, increasingly featured American fashion.

In 1994, the event was moved to its former site in Bryant Park by Fern Mallis, where it was held inside a series of large white tents in the almost-block-long park. Admission is by invitation only, to the fashion industry, fashion press, assorted celebrities, and internet based fashion press (e.g., District L, Fashionista, FWD, and The Fashion Bomb). Beginning in February 2009 (showing Fall 2009), many designers opted out of their usual Bryant Park tent fashion shows because of the poor economy and held smaller presentations.

2010 Due to increasing pressure from Bryant Park management, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week was hosted in Damrosch Park at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for the first time in September 2010. In addition to the new location, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week partnered with Fashion GPS, a new technology that offered quick seating and check-in for guests at the shows.

2011 The 2011 Mercedes-Benz Fall Fashion week collection will be showcased starting the second week of February and will be held at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts offers an additional 17,000 square feet of space, but the location change is still receiving mixed reviews.There initially appeared to be a trend toward darker and more somber designs.

2013 The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014 shows at Lincoln Center ran from September 5-12, 2013, although independent shows began a day earlier. On November 4, 2013, IMG announced that it is outsourcing production of its New York and Miami fashion weeks to LDJ Productions.