The twice-annual event, which is estimated to draw more than 100,000 visiting store buyers and fashion editors, has been under increasing pressure to find a new home after complaints from the park management that the invitation-only shows had grown too large and were restricting public access to the park.

Two designers who typically show in the park said they had been told that the new location would be Lincoln Center, but Zach Eichman, a spokesman for IMG, which produces the shows, declined to comment.

Although the fashion shows, now operating as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to reflect a corporate sponsorship, were welcomed in Bryant Park in 1993, there were frequent clashes with the management company that controls its maintenance and security.