A Proper Recap of Fashion Week. Aka. I’ve arrived.
(Arriving right outside the tents)
Okay, so after these busy busy weeks magnified by the intensity of a flurry of other factors, I’m finally getting a chance to give a proper recap of my arrival at the tents in Bryant Park.
Wait, wait, wait… let me just marinate on that for a second.
The tents at Bryant Park. Wow.
Maybe its just because I’m new to New York, or perhaps new to the world of high fashion, but arriving there was so magical, I might as well have walked into Hogwarts with a flying broomstick in hand. With a fashionista for a mom, I learned the importance of being a fly girl by age six. (Really though, I was killin it in the first grade with all my Esprit de Corps gear. And don’t get me started on my BK Knights.) Needless to say, I remember being in elementary school and watching the Style Channel enamored when they showed recaps of the runway during fashion week. I lived for the 90′s Vogue Magazines at my Auntie’s house, those vibrant, dramatic pictures with bejeweled boustiers glittering on Naomi, Kristy, and Cindy, and wondered when I’ll get to glitter in my own studded Valentino ensemble. I’ve dreamed of attending a show for as long as I can remember, and I always thought, one day…
(Getting my hair and makeup done @ the Aveda Academy- thank you Kevin Martin (hair) and Nyjia Jones (makeup)!)
When I made the decision to move to NY this year (yet another dream I’ve held inside me for years), I made a vision board that laid out all the things I wanted to have in my new life. Of course, Fashion Week had an entire section dedicated to it- but at the time, I only thought about the mere attendance of a show. I just wanted to be there. Little did I know that the Universe had something better than I imagined: instead of just being an audience member inside the tents, (the most coveted space to showcase at Fashion Week), I got a chance to have full backstage access with a press pass, an interview with a designer, a television pilot to host and produce, and an experience I will never forget.
(backstage at the Monarchy Collection show for designer Eric Kim, watching models do their run-throughs)
Like I said, for many fashion folks, this may be something ordinary. But at the risk of exposing all my rookie status because I know it sounds hella cheesy and all, I literally watched a vision plucked from a dream unfold right before my eyes. Don’t get me wrong. (It wasn’t all glamour, baby.) When Khiaecia, Nyjia, and I journeyed to Bryant Park that morning, the sky let out an angry tirade. It was fiercely windy, stormy, gray, and outright unforgiving. On foot, it was the most strenuous journey I’ve had to take in heels, and I couldn’t hail a cab for the life of me! But when I got to my seat and watched the room fill up with camera flashes like shooting stars and a glamorous crowd that blanketed the wide landscape inside, I forgot all the strain and kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t imagining any of it..
(excitedly awaiting for the show to begin)
I loved watching the entire Monarchy Collection strut down the runway, and I still could not believe I was live and direct from the exact place I used to fantasize about so many years ago- I’ve come quite a long way from Esprit de Corps, & British Knights, I must say!
That day, I left feeling so giddy I forgot it was raining an angry tirade outside. It couldn’t compete with my sunshine smile anyhow.
**Special thanks to videographer and editor Nyjia Jones, Khiaecia Key for all the assistance, Natalia Romiszewski for hooking it all up for our backstage access, Alvin Gomez and Joy Ramos of MYX TV, Jennifer Wannarachue for that vintage lace bodysuit, and Renee Patron, designer of Secta, for lending me those amazing pants!
