Over the past several weeks, I have read and overheard — with one eyebrow arched — many such rants by persons in this industry expressing their dismay over the current state of New York Fashion Week. Boy, have the opinions been fast and furious. And I have often asked myself, why is NYFW such a target?

Perhaps questioning the validity of NYFW is something that is inherently American. Along the lines of: “Is Broadway too commercial?” or “Has the art world sold out?” Of course, the conversation on NYFW is decades old. Some may remember the question: should NYFW go first or last in the global show cycle? Questioning ourselves suits us, we are, after all, a country of democratic debate and now opinion. Trump! Would the global fashion industry ever so vociferously question the British Fashion Council, Camera Nationale della Moda Italiana or the Federation de la haute couture et de la Mode? Probably not. But we, American fashion, can take it and we welcome it.

Editor’s Note: Ed Filipowski is the co-chairman of KCD, the public relations agency of record for the CFDA. This is an excerpt of an op-ed in The Business of Fashion. Click here to read the full article.