Everyone who knows me knows I come from the world of fandom; a world where people aren’t just a fan of some thing or some idea, they are obsessed: they go to conventions, they host meet-ups, they attend or organize rock concerts where music is sung about their interest, etc.
I belong to many fandoms, but I can categorically say that the fandom I have belonged to for the longest time is fashion. I am a fashion nerd; a fashion geek. I read the magazines, I style my friends for job interviews, I critique how people I meet present themselves, I watch the competition shows; the list goes on. The fashion fandom has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Like any fandom, we attribute events and places which are significant to us as fans. In fashion, places like Milan, Paris, and London are synonymous with the world of fashion and since New York also falls into this category, the ultimate destination for a fashion fan is New York Fashion Week. Put simply for Potter fans: NY Fashion Week is like Prophecy happening twice yearly.
It has been a dream of mine to attend even just one runway show during Fashion Week. This past week, that dream came true.
It’s not important how I got into the tents at Bryant Park or why Julia Allison took an interest in my little email and saw fit to invite me along for a day. What is important, however, is what happened there.
When I arrived at the tents, I quickly become aware of just how little I know about the fashion industry. This is not to say that people were speaking some sort of jargon or foreign fashion language. Upon entry, I was immediately thrust into this over-the-top experience: a world where things are far bigger and far more important than any typical shopper could fathom. Even the tent itself is bigger on the inside. For Doctor Who fans, it’s like a real TARDIS: what seems like a small block of white canvas when you pass it on the street is on the inside another world of trends and high-end consumerism. No one product takes center stage and no one designer is considered the top priority. This is a huge departure from what we get from the media.
When i first arrived, i had the opportunity to walk the lobby floor. Much like my daily life, a lot of prouct placement was pushed in my direction and sponsorships/corporate sponsors were quickly discernable from smaller entities. However, all products shared face time: I never once felt like Evian was running the room or that Mercedes-Benz, the largest sponsor to my knowledge (it’s actually called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and that’s it’s proper nomenclature for the press), was taking over the space.
This sense of shared community continued when i was lucky enough to attend some runway shows. In the media, we are most often given only a fraction of the story and the same is true for the fashion industry. More recently, the celebrity factor has increasingly affected this: the phrase “who are you wearing?”, coined by Joan Rivers, comes to mind. Fern Mallis, senior vice president of fashion for IMG (the hosts of Fashion Week) has previously said that there are some designers who play to celebrity and some who don’t, but I did not see much of that during my short stint at the event. When I got to watch Mallis get interviewed by Julia, she again discussed the celebrity factor and how fashion is not all about celebrity, saying “these are people who have a relationship with the designer…they’re not necessarily being paid to be there; they were invited like everyone else.”
The issue of who is at what show and who bitches about what seat they get may sound newsworthy, but when you are inside the show and the runway’s plastic covering goes up, all eyes are on the designer’s work.
At Custo Barcelona, the first show I attended, the Spring 2009 collection was about fun florals and punchy pastels; prints and colors that could both blind the eyes and make your grandmother’s wallpaper jealous. The collection wasn’t entirely seamless (pun intended!), or “cohesive” as insiders say, but overall it was forward-thinking and innovative in my opinion. I would not call it earth-shattering, but the looks were satisfactory.
My second show was Zac Posen; a designer i have admired for a few years now. ZP’s design aesthetic is feminine and sporty, showing dresses in animal prints and pewter lamé, which gives those who wear him a strong silhouette and a desire to succeed (something i personally consider with many fashion choices I make). His Spring 2009 collection spoke to women everywhere (something Zac is known for) that we can be confident and successful, while still being sexy. it is this kind of statement that many aspiring designers (and some more established ones, too) hope to make with their lines.
Beyond the runways and the backstage areas and the celeb-filled lounges, I came to realize that when you set aside all of your ideas and put yourself in the minds of the designers, the buyers, and the stylists, fashion is not just their community; it is their livelihood. Their lives revolve around these shows: they eat, sleep and breathe fashion for the duration, returning to their regular lives after eight days. But do they really return to their lives? For the designers, Fashion Week starts when their look is conceived. For the buyers, Fashion Week continues beyond the show, becoming part of their company’s future business plan. For the stylists, the trends are then processed and added to a mental library of looks that will continue to evolve as the months after Fashion Week roll by.
Like anything that finds itself under a microscope, the fashion industry is different when you are a part of it. The same is true of Fashion Week. Even though I was only there for one day, I knew i encountered something bigger than myself.
