My First New York Fashion Week '19 Experience - Spring/Summer 2020
Lifestyle,  Travels

My First New York Fashion Week ’19 Experience – Spring/Summer 2020

Obviously, I have to write this down while I’m still in the New York Fashion Week high. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been sharing some behind-the-scenes of the fashion shows I have had the privilege to see on my Instagram page. For those who are not familiar with New York Fashion Week, Wikipedia couldn’t have explained it any better.

New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events (generally lasting 7–9 days) when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general public. It is one of four major fashion weeks in the world, collectively known as the “Big 4”, along with those in Paris, London, and Milan.[1][2] The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) created the modern notion of a centralized “New York Fashion Week” in 1993, although cities like London were already using their city’s name in conjunction with the words fashion week in the 1980s. NYFW is based on a much older series of events called “Press Week”, founded in 1943.

-wikipedia.com

So, it just so happened that I stumbled upon this call-for-volunteers to be part of a fashion week show. At that time, I didn’t know what the company was all about. I just sent in my email, and since I’m already a stone-throw away from New York, I thought, why not?!

Pretty soon, someone responded with an application form. And the rest was history.

I got my requested position as a Social Media Assistant. With this privilege, each member was assigned to specific rooms – Hair and Makeup, Dressing Rooms, Backstage, Media Pit, Live Stream, and Front Row Seats. We were tasked to take photos of every detail of the show, each having their own perspective and angles to showcase.

Inside one of the Dressing Room during New York Fashion Week at The Stewart Hotel showcasing the designs by Exquisitely Joy (https://exquisitelyjoy.com/).

I chose to stay in the Dressing Room to have the first glimpse of all the beautiful designer clothing to be presented and be able to have a closer look at the garments, as well.

It was a phenomenal experience to be able to be surrounded by custom-made garments and intricately made accessories. There were custom-made shoes too which where A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-L-Y made! The shoe designer even said that making shoes requires ALOT of math, so I guess I wouldn’t be able to pass on that. I’ll stick with sewing basic dresses.

Hair and Makeup Room at the Stewart Hotel during the New York Fashion Week organized by Fashion Gallery.

Anyway, there were a lot of volunteers that came on the orientation and the first day. Unfortunately, when they realize it was a lot of work without getting paid, most of them dropped out the second day.  

Our team, on the other hand, happened to have a lot of members that when the directed saw our number, he got annoyed and said he doesn’t need that much Social Media people. So, Andrea, our team coordinator, had to be smart about who she will move out to a different team. Good thing I brought my camera with me, otherwise, I would have been placed to a different group.

Make-up Products by one of the sponsors of the event, https://kosas.com/.

The first day was hectic because most of the volunteers were new and still groping around on what to do. I had to wake up around 4am since the ride going to New York would take an hour and our call time was 6:45am. I arrived there on time, and gladly, nothing was going on yet. The whole day went by, and we were instructed to post at least 7 photos on Instagram or do stories about it and post them after each show.

The first day, we had three private shows by designers, namely,

ExMermaid (https://exmermaid.com/),
Exquisitely Joy (https://exquisitelyjoy.com/),
Christian Colorado (https://www.instagram.com/christiancolorado.co/).

The second day was more of a blur, considering that it was going to be a collection of many different designers in one show. So, we had two shows that have at least five designers, each and two private shows. The list of designers was:

Designers’ Premier
Designers’ Collective
Jovana Louis (https://www.jovanalouis.com)
Yvette Crocker (https://www.yvettecrockershop.com/ ||| https://www.instagram.com/yvettecrocker_artist/)

The third day was so much easier than the last two days because we already know what to expect, and we had a considerable amount of time for editing and posting in between shows. Still, we made sure we were all in the vicinity, in case something interesting happens.

Emerging Designers
Pret-A- Porter
Irina Shabayeva (https://www.irinashabayevashop.com ||| https://www.instagram.com/irinashabayeva/)
Setup of the Runway Show for the New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020 at the Stewart Hotel

Perhaps my favorite among these designers would be Irina Shabayeva, Cashmere Song, Jovana Louis, and Exquisitely Joy. Don’t get me wrong though, all of them are fabulous designers. I think those are just the designs that appeal to my personal taste.

During the second day of the event, there was news that came around that 5 girls got their stuff stolen from the volunteer lounge. I feel bad for them.

On a happy thought, I guess one of the best outcomes of these volunteer events would be the opportunity to network and connect with other like-minded individuals.

So that’s it. My first-ever New York Fashion Week experience, and I didn’t even have to pay a single cent to be in. Being a Social Media Assistant, seeing a runway show in real life, and being able to take pictures of the event is more than I could ask for. I may never have been chosen to be in the front row seat, but at least I got to see the show with my own eyes and I get to choose the angles for my photographs, too.

Thank you so much Fashion Gallery for the fantastic opportunity.

Now I’ve got to sign off and post more photos of the show at https://www.instagram.com/jenamaen_nyfw/. Check it out if you’re interested in fashion as I am.

I am Jena, an experienced content creator, who is passionate about travel, health and wellness, and fashion. I'm an avid traveler and digital nomad, who loves to craft and sew and who has some IT background. I aspire to help others with 'no niche' online find their voice and just express themselves. 

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