Our publisher, Sam Francois got an up-close and personal look at the tents this year. I say up close and personal because according to him, he had never been in the tents during fashion week. It seems as if he’s got a real aversion towards hobnobbing with “that” crowd. He’s such a snob he turns his nose up at the fashion crowd, go figure. Seems he got a bit of comeuppance last Thursday at the Custo Barcelona show. Here’s how he recalls it:
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So here I am somewhat excited and curious as this was the first time I’d witness an actual show in the tents. I asked Michelle (editor in chief at PD) so many questions, by the time we actually got inside the tent she couldn’t wait to get away from me. I would say stuff like “so I just show them the Custo Barcelona invite and bingo I am in?” She told me yes, but we may be in “standing”, apparently that’s tent vernacular for no seats, just the standing section. Now mind you we’ve shot Custo clothes in our fashion shoots and I’m very happy they extended an actual invite to me personally let alone the Papierdoll staff. Designers and their PR firms (with the exception of People’s Revolution) tend to get weird or not know how to play in the online space. I don’t fault them or their PR agencies, there are many online publications, bloggers and websites that leave a lot to be desired. Why give up a seat to a blogger that might (in an uneducated fashion) rip your show apart when you can give it to a buyer who has way more clout and actually serves a purpose instead?

I digress.

We wait on what would seem to be a line but actually is a bunch of people standing and pushing forward until they get noticed by a pr person with a clipboard. Michelle gestures at the pr person with a clipboard and she lifts the rope for us to go in. Here I am thoroughly impressed by my editor’s skills, when we end up on another line, this time a bit more organized. I’m now thinking, ok, any second now we’ll be in. 25 minutes go by and suddenly I see a police officer (an omen to be sure) standing at the entrance of the Custo Barcelona show. Then a man moves the rope as if to close off the section. Then everyone starts walking around in an orderly fashion, once again.

I ask Michelle, “what happened?” she says and I paraphrase, we were given standing and they are not letting standing people in. What about the cop? I ask. She responds, “just in case anyone doesn’t take kind to not being let in”… oh… I looked at my invite crestfallen, yet understanding what happened. A woman who was near one of our writers asks,”excuse me does this mean that we were hosed/dissed” (can’t quite remember the word she used). Michelle allayed her fears and said “yes, dear, we were dissed”.

If found it funny, yet a bit more snobbish than even I could understand. The fashion crowd is so exclusive that they won’t even tell you when they are “dissing” you. Cool… I.. think.

What is even more remarkable though is the passion my staff had, I was getting ready to go the garage, get my car and have some Thai (that always helps the mood). They insisted that we not leave until we finished watching the show on the big screen. Having been summarily dismissed by the designers, PR firm and tent, I would have said, screw them, they don’t want us at their show, we just won’t provide coverage. Caroline (another writer) insisted we stay and our photographer was already in, so we got the photos and were able to see the show (at least on TV). To give this the sugary sweet ending that this deserves I ended up being inspired by my co-workers/staff, because they decided they were going to cover fashion week no matter what was thrown at them. What could have been a miserable experience turned out alright. Our staff in London and Paris tells us their fashion week is nothing like that. Cool.

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Welcome to the world of fashion, Sam.

-Eva

The fashion week posts came fast and furious this week so here’s a collection of fashion week musings:

Stiletto Jungle previews the Spring ‘08 Ugg Australia Trunk Show.

Don’t forget to signup for the Thomas Wylde Handbag Giveaway, brought to you by Bag Bliss & The Bag Forum!

Bag Snob gets up close and personal with Oscar de la Renta!

Beauty Snob hearts the Bobbi Brown long wear eye gel!

Coquette is eyeing the Press On Eyeshadow Kits which applies a complete eyeshadow look in just one step!

Daniel Saynt shares his Fashion Week Adventures. Gucci and Perez and Som, oh my!!!

Fall 2008 Fashion’s rich color palette of purples, blues & earthy neutrals - Fashiontribes

KRiSTOPHER gives away $600+ of Patrick and Skinner lingerie.

Papierblog reviews the stylish Philips GoGear mp3 player

Second City Style: Celebs galore at Fall ‘08 NY Fashion Week!

Shrimpton Couture finds that capes are the new trend in vintage fashion.

Styleaholic Najwa Moses says you must meet THE BLONDES

VOTE for WELOVEBEAUTY.com’s Look of the Month!

Papierdoll held it’s fashion week party again this season with Second City style.com and it was a rousing success. This season of particular note was the giftbag given to attendees. Included in the limited edition special giftbags were mp3 players from Philips, lotions, perfumes, beauty products, but the really fascinating product was the Go Gear. This mp3 player is truly made with the fashionista in mind. It has a jewel-like top that once pressed goes to the next song, it was designed for simplicity and for aesthetics. It has a longer battery life than mp3 players currently out on the market and will probably match anything in your wardrobe. It comes out this March. The overall verdict of this neat little product is that Philips has a winner with the GoGear. Watch out iPod!

Received the cutest Year of the Mouse e-mail from Vivienne Tam and had to share. We’ll have photos of her show up soon.

How many celebrities, VIPs, buyers, press, hangers on etc can fit into the tents at Bryant Park? Here’s some crowd shots from various shows to give you an idea:

Max Azria

Lacoste

Nautica

Samantha Pleet