Times News Clerk Kyle Hayes interned for fashion magazine W and wrote for fashion news blog Fashionista.com in New York City before joining the Times staff in March. He returned to New York for Mercedes-Benz Spring 2010 Fashion Week to get an insider's view of one of the fashion world's biggest events of the year.
"Project Runway" and "America's Next Top Model" may make New York City Fashion Week seem like a whirlwind of gorgeous models and glamorous clothes, but a week spent dodging cabs on the way to the spring 2010 fashion shows provides a dose of reality.
Now that I've returned to life in Northern New York after seven days of running in too-new shoes across the cobblestone walkways in Bryant Park and stumbling down stairs in front of the fashion elite, I can safely say my spur-of-the-moment trip to Fashion Week was anything but a vacation.
Being a beginner on the Fashion Week circuit, I had a lot to learn. Everything seemed a bit foreign, from navigating the giant, two-story Bryant Park "tents" to knowing how to hide my face from the cameras snapping photos of celebrities sitting in front of me.
Throughout the week, from Sept. 10 to Sept. 17, I attended nine fashion shows and four presentations, a pittance compared to most magazine editors and department store buyers who take in approximately 11 shows a day for seven days straight. For a newcomer, though, I was off to a good start.
My journey began Sept. 10 with Fashion Week's kickoff event, Fashion's Night Out, a global happening that reached Tokyo and Paris but was created in New York by Vogue editors, retailers and the fashion press. The event, which lasted from 6 to 11 p.m. that Thursday, consisted of hundreds of people running to designated stores to meet celebrities, dance with models and, of course, shop.
Connie Wang, associate blog editor for fashion and shopping Web site Refinery29.com, said Fashion's Night Out was all about bringing glamour back to shopping and making it an event rather than a chore.
"I don't think that the act of shopping holds that sacred spot for people anymore; it's not an event as much as a necessity," she said. "Instead of glamorizing the production of fashion with reality shows and pop culture's focus on magazines, it makes more economic sense to glamorize the consumption of fashion."
Even with my failed attempts to rub shoulders with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on Fifth Avenue or snap a picture of songstress Rihanna in SoHo, there was plenty of excitement and a celebration of conspicuous consumption, despite Wall Street's woes.
Following Fashion's Night Out, the shows kicked into high gear. I took in my first set of shows at the Bryant Park tents for BCBG Max Azria, Yigal Azrouel, Lela Rose and Thuy. Other runway shows and presentations were held at smaller, more eclectic venues. British label Preen held its show in an industrial-like warehouse; the Devi Kroell presentation was housed in a contemporary ballet studio. Both venues allowed for closer, more intimate viewing of spring's wares.
Each morning I bolted out the door toward the subway with notebook and pen in hand for jotting down thoughts throughout shows, but the sumptuous leather jackets at Israeli-born Azrouel's show and the Bruno Frisoni shoes at Monique Lhuillier proved to be too much of a distraction. Aside from pen and paper, I found that other necessities were a stash of Band-Aids for avoiding blisters from my patent leather shoes, and an emergency muffin and bottle of water — even a quick stop at Starbucks between shows might make me moments late, locked out of the next presentation.
For editors, surviving the grueling week started from the ground up.
Miss Wang said a pedicure is essential, since photographers are endlessly snapping flocks of well-dressed people, and their shoes, on the street.
"Comfortable shoes are a necessity," said Britt E. Aboutaleb, editor of fashion blog Fashionista.com. "You think your shoes are comfortable, but then you run around for 18 hours and realize, maybe not so much."
"I also never left the office without a Metrocard and my BlackBerry," Miss Wang said. "You need a tweeting machine."
As for Twitter, the microblogging site became the star of Fashion Week news coverage. I found myself tweeting back and forth with friends across the runway and constantly refreshing my feed anywhere from the subway to dinner and right before bed. With editors like Elle's Joe Zee (@mrjoezee) and V Magazine's Derek Blasberg (@DizzyBlazeberg) tweeting from the front row, it'd be a shame to miss a beat.
After several years of declining sales numbers, sky-high production costs and fashion brands filing for bankruptcy, designers brought their "A" game back for the spring 2010 season.
Rachel Zoe, stylist to the stars and star of Bravo's "The Rachel Zoe Project," told industry newspaper Women's Wear Daily, "New York is game-on right now. The energy is back, the designers are happy and it's been an amazing week."
If the collections were any indication, designers are looking to renew confidence and inject fun into women's their wardrobes for spring.
"The energy itself (of fashion week) was amazing," Miss Aboutaleb said. "Last season all anyone talked about was the recession. This time around, the economic upswing was the topic of choice and there were, fittingly, a barrage of flirty party dresses on the runway."
Designers such as Karen Walker, whose collection was filled with polka dots, ruffles and ready-for-the-beach bucket hats, and 27-year-old Chris Benz brought a new frame of mind to spring 2010, where a night on the town with friends — perhaps in one of Mr. Benz's sequined and feather cocktail numbers — is just as important as a Monday morning meeting.
Miss Wang believes sweat pants, surprisingly, will be a big trend for spring, yet only in polished form with slimmer silhouettes.
"I think the refined sweat pant is going to be huge," she said. "Whether in a soft gray or black, if you pair them with great shoes and blazer, they can look crazy chic."
Despite the fashion industry's notorious reputation for cold-heartedness, there were no catfights over seating arrangements, and every editor I chatted up while waiting for shows to begin seemed genuinely happy to be a part of the week — even if they were looking forward to it being over.
"The best thing about New York Fashion Week is being around people who love fashion as much as you do," Miss Wang said. "The worst is the sleep deprivation."
