Lisa Marsh, Patrick McGregor, Rachel Roy, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Jane Keltner de Valle, Audrey Smaltz

Fashion Week is only two weeks away, which means that preparation at the Lincoln Center has already commenced.

The relocation to Lincoln Center from Bryant Park has had some people concerned that the center’s neighbors might take offense to the outlandish and exclusive events that will be going on right in their backyards, particularly because the community surrounding the center happens to be one of the city’s biggest public-housing complexes.

“When you bring in a large enterprise, such as Fashion Week, you want to be sure that people in the neighborhood know what’s going on — beyond just seeing the limousines,” said New York City Council’s Upper West Side representative Gale Brewer.

In order to help its neighbors feel welcome, Lincoln Center, IMG, the Council of Fashion Designers of American (CFDA), and New York City’s Housing Authority (NYCHA) hosted a panel discussion yesterday entitled, “A Life in Fashion” at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. More than 150 local teenagers attended the presentation, most of whom were from Amsterdam Houses, the 10-acre public-housing complex just west of Lincoln Center.

The panel of speakers included designer Rachel Roy; Jane Keltner de Valle, the fashion news director at Teen Vogue; Audrey Smaltz, founder and CEO of The Ground Crew; and Patrick McGregor, vice president of public relations at BCBGMaxAzria, who discussed fashion-industry career options and related topics. The presentation was moderated by New York Post/AOL’s StyleList fashion writer Lisa Marsh.

“The idea was that when Fashion Week was relocated to Lincoln Center, there would be an effort to show residents that this wasn’t just something going on in the neighborhood, it was something that could have an impact on them and influence their lives,” said Sheila Stainback, a NYCHA spokeswoman.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, founding director of fashion at Lincoln Center, and John B. Rhea, the chairman of NYCHA, also made speeches.

To view more photos from the panel discussion, visit Haute Living’s Event Gallery.