Today was the first most exciting day ever. Prepare thyself for a verbose post of epic proportions below...
NUMBER ONE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: I MET SUSIE BUBBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning I awoke from my dreams which actually involved the aforementioned world renowned London fashion blogger (that’s how excited I was- what a CREAP!) and went to the Independent Fashion Blogger conference at Good Units (which is a really cool, dark and sexy basement space at the Hudson Hotel) to catch Susie Bubble and the writer for another one of my go-to blogs for fashion news: the Cut @ New York Magazine website give talks about their experiences in the Fashion Industry.
It was really fun to see these digital people in the real world, talking about real things, to hear their voices and see their mannerisms that just don’t translate into 2-d. Susie was more than gracious when I came up to her after the talk, overloaded her with gushy smiles and awkwardly shoved two Chromat zines into her hand as she was swarmed with readers/admirers. Maybe I will see her around again this week and demonstrate I am a little more than just a gushing fan… actually, maybe that’s all I am.
I also got to meet a few other cool fashion bloggers, one of which is a rad lady named Buffy Leigh who writes out of Alberta, Canada at Kakofonie Of Si(gh)lens. She was wearing a really cool harness type thing (above) and it pretty much made my day when she recognized the Chromat cage I was wearing before I told her that it was my own design. FAAAMOUS!!! Another self-esteem highlight was when a hair salon owner named Paty Soto from Mexico City came over and took a bunch of pictures of my fancy hair-do and asked me how I styled it. Really? I’m notable at hair-related stuff? Sweeet.
SO THEN! OH YEA I ALSO WENT TO MY FIRST EVER FASHION WEEK RUNWAY SHOW!!! Through the kindness and connections of my great fashion friend Ethan Nguyen, editor of the blog/publication Titans & Company, I scored a ticket to the Concept Korea show at Lincoln Center. Last year, as some of you may remember, I lurked around inside the tents at Bryant Park but did not make it in to the actual runways to see a show due to the fact that my name wasn’t actually on anyone’s list. So it was a pretty cool feeling to be able to clutch/accidentally-crumple-from-excitement a real seat assignment in my sweaty little palm.
After I did my electronic check in, I lurked around the lobby for a while making first impressions of the new place (cool sunken room for all the media photographers in the middle of the tents, nice lights) and all the new people (lots of stilettos, blazers on ladies, skinny black pants, lots of black in general). I, like all the other fashion plebeians, also ran over to the stash of free magazines and piled them into my plastic bag. There was also free frappuccino and free wine! But for some reason, in all this glamour, the bathrooms were still ugly gross port-o-pottie-like contraptions! You would think now that the fashion shows are showing at Lincoln Center, where the city’s opera and ballet are held, that the toilet seats would at least be constructed out of facsimile gold leaf and not plastic. Hmmmph.
AAANYWAYS off I went to the show! It was a show of three Korean designers, the last of which left a major impression on me. Lee Jean Youn. The show was impressive for many reasons- for the range of styles (from jackets and suits to billowing dresses) to the use of color (which evolved from black to creamy peach with a single jolt of earthy green tea to a frothy white finale) and texture (hard and sharp to soft and bunched).
The show was so beautiful and had such a slow and steady build to the end that when it was all over I felt like I’d just seen a really intense dramatic movie. The kind where someone makes a huge life decision and then the whole movies shows them living out their dreams or nightmares or whatever. After watching one of those movies, I’m usually in a stunned daze and all I want to do is talk about the movie with a friend and unpack each of the issues. Well, this collection somehow triggered that same sort of emotional heaviness. It was composed of things I’d never seem before, things I loved and things that challenged me.
So day number one of New York Spring/Summer 2011 Fashion Week was a complete success. Tomorrow I awake to find more shows at my fingertips (again, THIS IS A DREAM) and then a night of parties and fun with Fashion Night Out! There are a lot of events going on but one I definitely hope to check out is the party with my friends (and stockist) at International Playground on Stanton (between Bowery and Chrystie). They are having DJs and booze and I hope to meet the other designers that are carried in the shop as well. See you there?
