First some pre-NYFW work... some seating charts, some make-up kits, some nail kits...
Then, on Friday, I had my first two shows: Cushnie et Ochs and ELLE Fashion | Next.
So, for the most part, my main duties were to bring the make-up kits to the make-up artists, the nail kits to the nail artists, and check-in international press for Maybelline. The first show at Cushnie should have been easy, but we were dropped off with about 8 MUKs and 7 NKs at the wrong side of the building. We didn't have time to go around the block, so we went through the main entrance with two Uhaul handtrucks filled with kits. The security guys were no help and even tried to block us from taking the elevator because we were suppose to take the freight elevator, which they didn't even tell us about.
However, once we got backstage, it was smooth sailing. We checked in press and brought them back to talk to Charlotte Willer, who was the lead make-up artist for the show. Honey, the lead nail artist, was so nice and sweet. Overall, it was a good show.
Then, for the afternoon/evening, I went to the David Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center for the ELLE Fashion | Next show. After putting up the seating signs, including Christina Ricci, which I ended up handwriting since we had to change her seat at the last minute. I was assigned to be a "celebrity wrangler," but the lobby was such a madhouse, I felt kinda useless since I couldn't even locate even celebrities. After we go everyone upstairs to the space, I was able to sit through the show from the mezz, which was a pretty good view.
Saturday was easier with only Lacoste.
It was a pretty straightforward show. It was one of my three shows that was in the Tents at Lincoln Center. Remember how it used to be the Tents at Bryant Park? Well, apparently, it hasn't been at Bryant Park since like 2010. I didn't know that. Heh.
The Tents have about four different runway/presentation areas. There's the smaller ones called The Box and The Studio. Then the mid-size one which is The Stage and the largest one, which Lacoste was in, is The Theatre. The lobby are, for lack of a better term, was pretty neat. There were some Mercedes cars on display, a overpriced concession stand, a TRESemme salon, a Maybelline backstage experience, an American Express interactive suite, and a Fiber One booth. There were couches everywhere and queues of people trying to check-in and get their seating assignments. It was a bit of an organized chaos.
Sunday was our busiest day. We had Victoria Beckham in the morning and then Custo Barcelona in the afternoon.
I think I woke up at 4:30 in order to be at the office by 5:30 so that we could get to the New York City Library at Bryant Park by 6. Needless to say, I took a cab to work. Once again, we had to bring in the kits but this time, the freight elevator was not working so we had to carry the kits on the handcarts up two flights of stairs. The hair, make-up, and nail space was along a such narrow corridor that we couldn't fit all the kits on the tables so some artists left the kits on the ground underneath or they shared with others, which isn't a common practice.
I first saw Victoria backstage about an hour after I got there. She was very friendly and introduced herself to people. She oversaw the progress of the models with their hair and make-up. She was just very calm and collective not to mentioned really pretty. David came in a bit later, carrying their adorable daughter, Harper. He was all snazzy in a brown and navy suit.
As the show was about to beginning, we gathered the make-up kits again to bring back to the SUV waiting for us. Since the artists are allowed to take the make-up from the kits, a good number of them were empty so we just piled them on us and took them down instead of the whole carrying down the stairs thing. Unfortunately, some photographers caught us and took photos of us with 6 or 7 kits slung around us. Pretty sure those are the more unflattering photos of me ever. We then went to the office and did a quick turnaround of new kits to bring to the Custo Barcelona show up at Lincoln Center.
Let's talk about the catering backstage for a second. The entire week, I did not have to order food. I literally ate to my heart's content at each backstage. There were mostly deli sandwiches at each but they were so good. At Victoria Beckham, they actually had mini omelets. This is why I could never be a model. Besides not even reaching five feet, I would eat so much at the backstage catering that I wouldn't fit my outfit a mere hour later. At Custo, they had a lox and cream cheese sandwich that I just couldn't help on grabbing.
On Monday, I did the Carlos Miele show, which I was actually able to sit through.
After the long day on Sunday, it was nice to have a calmer day on Monday. We were back at the Tents and this time, just like Custo, we were in the Stage. The lead make-up artist for Carlos Miele was Gato, who was a very nice Spanish, attractive man. He very often wore a backwards baseball cap which I found endearing.
We did the whole check-in press and escort them backstage so they could interview Gato. Quite simple. And since it was rather slow, I got the "ok" to actually see the runway show. It was nice. The actual runway looked like it was backlit with blue lights. I rather liked the pieces, moreso the solid colors than the animal print. It went by so quick, though, considering how much effort it took behind the scenes.
And finally, the last show that I did was Betsey Johnson.
I was warned that this was going to be a shit-show. That it was going to be madness. In the end, it was. The backstage area was in a shape of a lightning bolt, basically. The first section was the dressing are, then it was make-up, and then hair. However, you couldn't exit the hair & make-up areas without passing through the dressing are. Not to mention there was a giant cupcake gumball machine and benches in the middle and at the very beginning, there was a DJ back there as well. The most ridiculous backstage area. Needless to say, no one was really happy.
Luckily, I kept outside of the backstage and just checked-in press at its entrance and in the main space. I got to watch the tributes to Betsey that were playing on the screens on the walls. I also got to watch Cyndi Lauper rehearse. She was so sassy.
Sadly, we had to go backstage since they were opening the house and the madness took over. I ate one too many mini cupcake since this was the only backstage that didn't have a usual catering table with actual food.
For the show, there were 30 models and 90 looks, which is a ridiculous amount. However, it's Betsey's birthday celebration so she did a retrospect for the collection based on the different decades. There was a baby stroller involved at one point as well as a baby pig. Yes, a live baby pig. It was cute but seriously? There was a baby pig.
We were getting hungry and cranky, especially since this was an evening show, that after waiting half an hour longer than we was suppose to, we slipped through a crack in the divider between the entrance and the backstage. The front of house people were not pleased at all but seriously? Isn't that a fire code violation or something? There wasn't any other way out without going through the crowd of models, lined-up to walk on stage.
So, instead of leaving at 9:30 like we originally planned, we left at 10:30 and by the time we got to the office, yummy pizza awaited us.
And that was that. My first NYFW is done. There was ups-and-downs but overall, it was a fun experience.
Until next week!
