It's the end of an era! After 16 years there, Fashion Week is moving from the Bryant Park tents to Lincoln Center, Mayor Bloomberg announced earlier today. The move won't happen until September 2010, giving the current location three more Fashion Weeks (February and September 2009, and February 2010). After that, designers will relocate to the new space, which will give them 25% more room.

The NY Times reports that a dispute escalated in 2006 when the Bryant Park Corporation announced it would no longer allow the shows "because they were interfering with plans to operate a skating rink in the winter and public use of the main lawn in the late summer." The move was delayed by Bloomberg on behalf of designers and Anna Wintour, but they ultimately lost the battle. Alas, come next year the Vogue editrix will have a decidedly longer commute to the runway.

So what is the future of Fashion Week looking like? The paper notes that one idea is to stage "tents on opposite sides of the New York State Theater with a corridor winding between them, meaning guests might have to walk the equivalent of a city block between each show."